By Sabrina Lynch
- Over 25% of Black and and 15% of Asian applicants job seekers are hitting an AI wall in the hiring process
- Gartner projects that by 2028, one in four job candidate profiles will be partially or entirely fake
The hiring game has changed and not for the better. A new study has revealed that algorithmic suppression is in full effect against people of color looking for jobs in a very competitive market. Disappointingly, 26% of Black applicants and 15% of Asian applicants were found to have submitted their resumes for roles where AI unequivocally discriminated against them because of their racial identity.
Why This Matters: Now, it may seem that over one in four African American candidates and under one in seven Asian candidates is a small number. If this ‘small’ pool had been recommended by AI at the same rate as White applicants, 40,000 more submissions by people of color would have advanced to the next round of interviews in the recruitment stage.
The job postings are real, but clearly the career opportunities promised are not. AI usage among HR teams has nearly tripled in two years, jumping from 26% in 2024 to 43% this year. Yet the detrimental effect AI has on Black lives has been called out time and time again, such as tools which were screening job applications to eliminate “Black” sounding names.
Technology remains a big factor behind the job displacement crisis for highly sought after, highly compensated roles in finance, tech, engineering and data analysis, where people of color are already underrepresented. Trust, the problem is going to get even more sticky as Gartner projects that by 2028, one in four candidate profiles will be partially or entirely fake.
So recruiters who are already contending with fake resumes have less capacity to spot the discrimination underneath all the submissions they’re accessing. Not to mention that LinkedIn recently found 93% of recruiters plan to expand their AI usage this year This is not helpful for Black job seekers facing another obstacle in their trajectory to build both a career and wealth in the absence of a steady income and contributions to 401Ks.
What’s Next: Although the job market is getting stronger, it’s not as calm as it appears. Unemployment remains at a relatively low 4.3%, but 28% of the unemployed in April had been jobless for more than six months. The unemployment rate for people of color also increased to 6.6%. Household incomes are being pushed to the limit by rising costs, and the discrepancies AI is causing job seekers won’t help in the long run.
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