Job seekers wrestle with scams and AI in a turbulent hiring market

As millions of Americans seek employment, the job search process is increasingly fraught with scams, “ghost postings,” and AI recruiters—leaving candidates frustrated and wary about a landscape that feels stacked against them, per the Washington Business Journal.

Despite relatively healthy employment figures—April’s 7.4 million job openings are only slightly lower than a year ago, with layoffs and unemployment still low by historic standards according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics—recent surveys underscore just how difficult finding a job has become.

A reveals that 46 percent of job seekers say they have encountered a scam or fake posting, while 44 percent report seeing “ghost postings,” or positions listed online with no intention of being filled. About 35 percent of all jobs reviewed by those surveyed were believed to be ghost postings.

AI also plays an increasingly central—yet controversial—role. Seventeen percent of respondents said their recruiter was not human but AI, and while AI-driven platforms theoretically increase efficiency, they also introduce overwhelming competition and new barriers. “Applicants are up against bots generating resumes and bots filtering them out. Good candidates are often screened before a human ever looks,” said Michael Baynes, CEO of Clarify Capital.

For young applicants, especially Gen Z, the landscape is even bleaker. Jobright, an AI-powered search platform, found that 65 percent of recent grads expect at least 50 rejections before getting hired. The same report found that on average, job seekers must send out 294 applications to secure a single offer.

The digital job market’s gatekeepers, once humans, are now often algorithms—leaving even highly qualified applicants feeling invisible. Competition may only further intensify, especially at the entry level.