The tech industry is a focus for some of the hiring start-ups in part because it has more jobs than it can fill, and tech companies are under pressure to make their work forces more diverse. At Twitter, for instance, just 10 percent of technical employees are women, and at Facebook and Yahoo, it’s around 15 percent. Some women and minorities in tech describe an unwelcoming culture, and in response to the criticism, tech companies have begun publishing their diversity data and pledging to make changes.

Some of the software sounds as touchy-feely as the most empathetic personnel director. Doxa, a new service, plans to match candidates with tech companies and even specific teams and managers based on skills, values and compatibility — like whether a team has more solo work or collaboration, or whether women feel that their opinions are taken seriously. “There are just so many limitations to the human part of hiring, and the way we’re doing it now isn’t working because people are unhappy with work,” said Nathalie Miller, chief executive and co-founder of Doxa.

So far, Doxa has uncovered aspects of working at companies that are rarely made public to job seekers. The data, from anonymous employee surveys, includes what time employees arrive and leave, how many hours a week they spend in meetings, what percentage work nights and weekends and which departments have the biggest and smallest gender pay gaps.

Eoin Treacy's view

There have been a number of articles circulating talking about how the hiring process is taking longer as companies spend more time vetting new recruits and putting them through their paces. This suggests that a more data driven approach is being implemented in addition to face to face meetings and collaborative exercises. Of course in an environment where companies have been slow to hire new workers they can afford to be picky. It is open to question to what extent this will continue as wage growth picks up.

Clicking through the constituents of the Recruiting companies section of the Chart Library a number of long-term ranges are evident. 

UK listed Michael Page has been ranging below 600p since 2007 and has returned to test the upper boundary over the last six months. Some additional consolidation in this area is possible but a sustained move below 500p would be required to question medium-term scope for additional upside. 

Hays Inc is now testing the upper side of a more than decade long base. A sustained move below $150 would be required to question medium-term recovery potential. 

Dutch listed Randstad Holdings is testing the €60 area again and a sustained move above that level would reaffirm the medium-term uptrend. 

USG People is the 2nd largest Dutch recruiter and is now testing the upper side of a seven-year base. A sustained move above €15 would confirm a return to medium-term demand dominance. 

Swiss listed Adecco is bouncing from the region of the 200-day MA. 

US listed Robert Hall broke out to new highs in 2014 and has pulled back to the region of the 200-day over the last month. It will need to find support in the $55 area if the medium-term uptrend is to continue to be given the benefit of the doubt. 

Monster Worldwide has been ranging above the 200-day MA for most of the year and this week’s upward dynamic supports the view that demand is returning to dominance beyond the short term.