And That's a Good Thing
They're Watching You At Work
The Atlantic
The term Big Data, admits writer Don Peck, “has quickly grown tiresome.” But the power of analytics as a mechanism for making decisions about hiring and firing is still growing, and the “application of predictive analytics to people’s careers … is enormously challenging, not to mention ethically fraught.” Indeed, the idea that stats may determine whether we’ll flourish in careers or be temps forever is both promising and deeply concerning. Peck traces the history of hiring in America, noting that attempts at psychological testing based on “science” in the 1950s were largely abandoned in favor of ad hoc interviews. But we know that favoritism and bias are all too common in these situations. Now that science is making a comeback, Peck explores some of the new ways in which companies will be able to make some of their most important decisions.