Plum.io

High-Level Overview

Plum.io is a Canadian technology company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, that builds a talent assessment platform using objective, science-backed psychometric data to measure durable skills, behaviors, and job fit.[1][4][5] It serves global enterprises, including financial institutions, logistics firms, and engineering companies like Scotiabank and Arup, solving the problem of biased, resume-driven hiring by revealing innate human potential to improve quality of hire, retention, and team performance across the employee lifecycle—from recruitment to leadership development.[1][3][5] Key metrics include 93% of managers rehiring Plum-recommended matches, 77% higher retention, 80% less time on resumes, and 78% more diverse hires for underrepresented minorities, with recent awards like 2023 Best Talent Intelligence Solution and WorkTech 2023 Company to Watch signaling strong growth momentum.[1][3]

Origin Story

Plum was co-founded in 2012 by Caitlin MacGregor, now CEO, whose early career experiences sparked the idea: at her first major job, a boss recognized her untapped potential despite her inexperience, planting the seeds for the company; later, facing a critical hiring decision, she discovered the power of psychometric assessments to uncover the "full human" beyond resumes, but found them inaccessible and overly academic.[1][2] Motivated to democratize this data and ensure everyone gets opportunities to realize their "superpower," MacGregor built Plum after leading two prior businesses, with Neil MacGregor as VP of Product.[1][2][3] Early traction came from proving the platform's scalability for global talent decisions, leading to investments like EduLab Capital Partners in 2021 and accolades such as Caitlin's 2024 Worthy 100 recognition and 2023 Globee Awards.[2][3]

Core Differentiators

• Science-Backed Psychometrics for Durable Skills: Unlike traditional resumes or biased interviews, Plum uses validated assessments to quantify innate talents, behaviors, and job fit, predicting long-term success with metrics like 94% user value in results and 88% reduced interviewing time.[1][3][5]
• Full Employee Lifecycle Coverage: Spans pre-employment hiring, onboarding, career navigation, culture analysis, and development, enabling personalized insights and high-performing teams.[1][3][5]
• Bias Reduction and Scalability: Strips away resume bias, boosts diversity by 78%, and scales globally (multiple languages, countries) for enterprises, as used by Scotiabank to double retention and cut costs.[3][5]
• Proven ROI and Awards: Delivers 77% retention gains and 93% rehire rates, with wins like 2023 Globee Disruptors Award and integrations like hireEZ for job matching.[2][3]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Plum rides the skills-based hiring trend, shifting from degrees and resumes to durable soft skills amid talent shortages, AI-driven automation, and demands for retention in a post-pandemic workforce.[3][5] Timing aligns with enterprises prioritizing measurable job fit and culture amid economic volatility, as seen in partnerships with firms like Arup for global onboarding and Scotiabank's cost savings.[5] Market forces like regulatory pressures in finance and logistics disruption favor Plum's predictive data, influencing the ecosystem by enabling 78% more diverse hires and reducing hiring inefficiencies, thus accelerating skills-first transformations in HR tech.[3][5]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Plum is poised for expansion with new products integrating culture, career navigation, and talent insights, capitalizing on rising demand for AI-augmented, skills-centric HR amid workforce reshuffling.[3] Trends like hybrid work, DEI mandates, and skills ontologies will propel growth, potentially through deeper enterprise integrations and global scaling. Its influence may evolve from hiring disruptor to full talent OS provider, empowering leaders to unlock human potential at scale and thrive in talent wars—echoing Caitlin MacGregor's vision that when people flourish, businesses do too.[1][3]