How Hershey Turned Manual Chaos into Scalable Efficiency with Grayscale
Key Takeaways
- Automation isn’t about replacing people—it’s about freeing them up to do their best work.
- SMS + automation = better experience for candidates and recruiters alike
- You don’t have to boil the ocean—start with one workflow, and scale fast
“Grayscale was the perfect partner for our TA transformation, allowing us to scale at our own pace and offering an incredibly flexible solution to address our evolving needs.”
Summary
In just 3–4 months, Hershey’s Talent Acquisition team automated 100% of their onboarding process, saving over 500 hours annually in productivity and shaving two full days off time-to-fill. By leaning into Grayscale’s Talent Acquisition automation platform, Hershey is transforming high-volume hiring from reactive firefighting into proactive, people-first recruiting.
The Challenge
High Volume Meets High Drop-Off Hershey isn’t just a candy company. It’s a snacking powerhouse with over 21,000 employees globally—60% of whom are hourly. In North America, that workforce powers 20+ manufacturing plants and produces household favorites like Reese’s, Kit-Kat, and Skinny Pop.
But behind the sweetness was a bitter challenge: high candidate drop-off at every stage of the process. Interview no-shows. Background check ghosting. Onboarding falloff.
“We saw 30% fallout at the interview, background check, and onboarding stages. That’s 30 out of every 100 candidates gone. We had to over-offer just to hit hiring targets. It was unsustainable.”
To scale up and keep plants running efficiently, Hershey’s TA team needed a process that could meet hourly candidates where they are—with clarity, speed, and simplicity.
The Solution
A Crawl-Walk-Run Approach to Talent Acquisition Automation – Hershey partnered with Grayscale to reimagine their candidate experience. The goal: create a seamless, automated process that empowers both candidates and recruiters.
Crawl: Start simple – drive the process with text messaging. With a workforce that’s not in front of a computer, texting has become the primary communication channel. SMS notifications replaced clunky emails for interview scheduling and pre-hire tasks.
Walk: Extend SMS into onboarding. Reminders, document links, and instructions – all delivered straight to candidates’ phones. No portals, no confusion.
Run: Automate everything that can be automated. Today, 100% of Hershey’s onboarding journey is automated. Their recruiting process is 25% automated and rapidly scaling to 90% by the end of the year.
“We started getting messages like, ‘I’m done – what’s next?’ instead of ‘I need help’ and ‘I can’t find the link.’ That’s the kind of shift that changes everything.”
The Results
10x Efficiency, 2x Candidate Confidence Hershey’s transformation didn’t take years. It took weeks.
30% faster time-to-fill (average across enterprise clients)
Fallout reduced from 30% → 5%
2 days shaved off time-to-fill
Recruiters refocused on strategic planning, not repetitive tasks
“We’re not chasing paperwork anymore. Our team is forecasting, planning, and thinking ahead – because automation gave us the time back.”
What’s Next
Scaling to 90%+ Automation for Recruiting With onboarding fully automated, Hershey is on track to automate 90%+ of their process, building a TA engine that’s as powerful as its brands.
“Manufacturing is unpredictable. But with Grayscale, we’ve turned hiring from reactive to proactive. That’s what it means to scale the human touch.”