The numbers come first. Job openings have slowed while the number of applicants competing for each position has climbed, leaving many qualified workers sending dozens or even hundreds of applications without hearing back.
Indeed CEO Hisayuki Idekoba said the process has become a 'vicious cycle' and asked, 'You got 1,000 applications, and you think all 1,000 people are not qualified? Something's wrong.'
Employers are dealing with a different side of the same breakdown. According to the Fortune report, applicant pools are now flooded with AI-generated applications, while scams involving fake candidates, including North Korean IT workers, have made it harder to tell who is real and who is not.
Daniel Chait, CEO of hiring software firm Greenhouse, said this is the first time 'both sides have been unhappy.' He said the market 'just isn't working for either side.'
Chait also said the 'black hole' feeling is backed by the data: applications per job are up 111% between 2022 and 2025, while the number of recruiters has fallen 56%. That is a classic case of labor-market friction, and it leaves both capital and labor less productive.
Indeed has turned to AI tools to help manage the load and match candidates with jobs. Idekoba said the company is trying to ensure job seekers are 'a real person' and that employers are 'really trying to fill positions.' He added that, five years from now, he hopes all of recruiters' manual tasks will be automated.
'AI should take on more of that work so recruiters can get back to building connections with the right match,' Idekoba said at Indeed's FutureWorks conference.
But the same technology is also making the process noisier. Applicants are using AI to tailor resumes, write cover letters and improve their chances of getting noticed, creating what Chait called an 'AI doom loop.'
His advice to candidates was blunt: don't only chase the biggest names. He said people should look to less-known companies that do the work they want, because the competition there is often lower.
Scott Galloway said networking can be the difference between sending an application into the void and getting an internal advocate. He said that at Google, internal advocates help choose the final hire most of the time. Sanjay Beri, CEO of Netskope, also said building relationships can pay off over time and that some jobs are never published.
For the market, the lesson is simple. When technology makes it easier to apply, it also makes it easier to overwhelm the system. Capital rewards clear rules, not bureaucratic clutter and fake signals. The hiring market is showing what happens when the process loses trust: real workers spend more time shouting into the void, and real employers spend more time sorting noise than finding talent.
