World of HR: Employers in the Middle East are drowning in AI-generated job applications and résumés

AI isn’t just changing how HR professionals lead. It’s overwhelming them with job applications, impacting their ability to find the right candidates for open jobs.

Where in the world? In the Middle East, 70% of employers have seen an influx of job applications thanks to AI, according to a recent survey from recruitment agency Robert Walters.

It’s no wonder why: 65% of professionals use AI functions like chatbots and CV builders to help complete job applications, allowing them to apply to “dozens of roles” at once, People Matters reported.

The trend is making it difficult for employers to determine whether applicants are a genuine fit or if they have “inflated profiles.” More than half (55%) of recruiters said the volume of applications has increased hiring times, as 37% of employers manually review applications.

“The surge in job application volumes we’re seeing today is the result of a hiring landscape where technology has made applying much easier, but also less transparent,” Jason Grundy, managing director at Robert Walters Middle East, said in a statement. “Organisations must look beyond the algorithm to ensure genuine talent and real potential are not lost in an increasingly AI-driven application process.”

Satellite view. Recruiters navigating this uptick in AI-generated job applications are also using AI to find and screening for the right candidates, HR Brew reported previously. As technology and the HR profession rapidly change, recruiters may ditch résumés and instead rely on skills assessments tools.

“There is so much coming at us in HR and TA right now about what will improve efficiency and what will solve this problem and that problem,” Stephanie Manzelli, CHRO at Employ, told HR Brew last fall. “But I think what every HR leader and every TA leader needs to do is just take a minute to pause and diagnose the challenges that your system, your team, your organization has.”