GoKawiilImagine applying for a job, hearing nothing, moving to a new city, starting a different job — and then getting a rejection email nearly a year later. That’s exactly what happened to who applied for a marketing coordinator position in May 2024 and finally heard “no” this week. “It was the closure I didn’t know I needed,” they wrote.
It’s not an isolated incident. More than half of job seekers, 53%, experienced ghosting in the past year, hitting a three-year high, according to a new report from pre-employment testing company Criteria. The culprit? AI tools that let candidates fire off thousands of tailored applications while leaving hiring managers drowning in résumés they can’t differentiate.
“Recruiters are inundated, screening methods are less reliable, and communication suffers,” Josh Millet, CEO of Criteria, . Making matters worse, about 81% of recruiters admitted their employers post “ghost jobs” — roles that don’t exist or are already filled — to maintain a presence on job boards or assess competitors, according to a MyPerfectResume report.