AI leads to unintended consequences in recruitment, finds study
New research suggests that the growing use of artificial intelligence in recruitment may be causing employers to overlook strong candidates, reinforcing long-held concerns among jobseekers about automated hiring processes.
The study by CV-Library, based on a survey of nearly 500 recruiters and 1,100 candidates, found that while application volumes have increased, the reliance on AI to process them quickly was leading to unintended consequences.
More than a third of recruiters said they were missing out on top talent because of a lack of human intuition in AI-driven processes, while just under a third reported that strong applications were filtered out before reaching interview stage. A fifth also noted an overall decline in candidate quality where AI is used.
Jobseekers appeared to share these concerns. Just over half said their applications had been rejected by AI without any human review, and just under half cited unfair rejection as a major frustration. The findings also showed that 40% had abandoned or considered abandoning applications due to the presence of AI in the hiring process, particularly when automated bots were used for screening.
One 37-year-old man described his experience to researchers: “Being interviewed by an AI bot felt incredibly alienating – there’s no feedback or human interaction, so you have no idea how you’re coming across. It feels like you’re being filtered out, and with so little real communication, it’s easy for the effort you put in to be completely overlooked.”
Younger candidates were especially sceptical. Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z respondents said AI was responsible for rejecting them in the early stages, while frustration over unfair rejection is highest among this group (53%), compared with millennials (47%).
A 39-year-old man from the West Midlands told researchers: “I stayed away from initial interviews with AI platforms – there’s no human interaction and just entirely impersonal. But now AI is in human calls too, taking notes during interviews. After three months without a job, what am I supposed to do? If AI is going to be a gatekeeper, I may as well use it to help me get through those gates.”
Although 83% of recruiters said they used AI to speed up hiring, only 36% said that it improved time-to-hire. Many said it performs poorly in assessing soft skills (55%) and cultural fit (72%).
Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library, said: “Candidates have long felt that the human touch is ebbing away from the hiring process and that good people are getting screened out unfairly. This insight from recruiters in both agencies and businesses suggests their frustrations may be justified.
“It’s a timely wake-up call that not everything should be outsourced to AI, especially in recruitment where every candidate is individually unique. It can add value in automating some laborious processes, but good recruiters are using it to support human intuition, not replace it.”
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