Recruiters debunk accusations that automation is rejecting job applicants
Recruiters are setting the record straight: candidates are not getting rejected because of automation, but because of the high volume of applications they receive recently.
This is according to new research from Enhancv, which interviewed 25 recruiters in the United States who use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
The research debunked claims online alleging that the majority of CVs are getting automatically rejected by ATS even before a human recruiter personally looks at them.
"The culprit isn't software, but scale—the sheer volume of applications that no one can realistically read," the report read.
Volume of applications blamed
According to the recruiters, roles in customer service, software development, sales, healthcare, and marketing can get up to thousands of applicants within a few days.
"There are a lot of positions where I get 2,000 applicants—those software development engineers," one recruiter said in the report.
Entry-level and administrative roles attract an average of 400 to 600 applications per opening, according to the report.
Customer service and remote support positions get 1,000 applications in their first week, while tech and engineering jobs receive more than 2,000 applications before the screening begins.
Recruiters said they don't have time to go through and review up to thousands of applications for a role, saying they stop after having a strong shortlist.
"The pattern is clear: it's not the ATS thinning the pile—it's the pile itself," the report read.
The sheer volume of job applicants recently has been pinned on the rise of AI-assisted CVs, according to separate research from AI Resume Builder, where 20% of hiring managers believe half of the applications they receive are created with AI.
What's the role of automation?
Automation has emerged as one of the key solutions that recruiters can utilise to speed up the recruitment process in the wake of inflated job application numbers.
But contrary to circulating claims online, recruiters clarified that the systems do not auto-reject CVs for formatting, content, or design.
Automated filters are used with knockout questions that look into an applicant's location, and other position-relevant qualifications.
"If the position requires a bachelor's degree, we'll say: 'Do you have a bachelor's degree?' If they don't, then they would be automatically knocked out of the process because they don't meet the minimum qualifications for the position," one recruiter said.
Other recruiters also said they use match scores or filters to prioritise which applications get reviewed first. Lower match scores go to the lower parts of the pile, while higher match scores get better chances of getting reviewed.
"So, this isn't about templates or design—it's about job requirements," the report read.
"Most recruiter teams still use scores and filters to sort who they review first, but only a small minority use them to decide who never gets seen."
