The Application Avalanche

On the surface, receiving a slew of résumés from seemingly talented job seekers sounds like a hiring manager’s dream. But “a slew” doesn’t come close to describing what firms trying to solve critical skills shortages are seeing today. A recent surge in applications is threatening to completely overwhelm them.

Newly released data shows that applications on LinkedIn alone have surged more than 45% in the past year. The platform says it is clocking an average of 11,000 applications per minute. Other platforms are seeing similarly alarming jumps, which experts say is a symptom both of the tight job market and AI’s impact on the application process. Already, thousands of talented job hunters are finding themselves sidelined, while—ironically enough—some firms are saying they can’t find the people they need. “It’s an environment where there are a lot more nos than yeses,” says Renee Whalen, senior client partner and North America consumer market leader for Korn Ferry’s Professional Search business.

The problem appears to be global, with unemployment rates at a historically low 4.7% in advanced economies, and at 6.4% in Europe. But that hasn’t stopped people from looking for new roles. For example, at the end of 2024, 28% of Americans said they were searching for a job, the highest percentage since 2014, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Frustrated by rejection rates, they’re increasingly turning to AI or other technological tools to blast their résumés far and wide. An online corporate-job posting receives, on average, 250 applications, according to one study, and in some cases up to thousands.

AI tools can speed up the process for recruiters, but companies are hitting other roadblocks. The economic environment has made some organizations very picky, resulting in additional rounds of interviews and other processes that slow down hiring. That’s turned off some candidates. “It’s become a little tougher to recruit talent out from other organizations,” says Reena Patel, a principal in Korn Ferry’s Global Financial Officers and Healthcare Services practices.

Another problem is applicants who exaggerate their skills. Bending the truth on a résumé isn’t a new problem, but more applications inevitably means more candidates “polishing up” their résumés, says Norman Zhou, a China-based market leader in Korn Ferry’s Professional Search practice. These candidates perhaps don’t have the necessary skills or experiences, but they’ll try to convince recruiters otherwise. It’s not fraud, but AI tools have made it easier to make certain experiences sound better than they actually are. “There’s a fine line,” Zhou says.

The end result of uncertainty about a candidate’s talent or skills is a stalemate in the hiring process. The rush for the right skills, of course, only increases as firms look for AI-related expertise. In all, a whopping 67% of large firms say a lack of talent is the main reason they haven’t been able to fill open positions.

Experts advise firms to keep refining their AI tools, and to reconsider HR staffing, which was depleted at some companies a couple of years ago. In addition, better training in detecting fake applicants would help. This issue clogs up the process more than people realize, experts say. Remarkably enough, one survey found that by 2028, one in four job candidates will be fake—hardly good news for frustrated candidates. “Managers should be learning ways to spot fraudulent candidates,” says Susan De La Vega, Korn Ferry’s senior vice president for global technology and client experience. “They need to build a robust process to keep it from being a problem.”

Experts say companies can also make a couple of tweaks that will improve the process. Recruiters should write easy-to-understand job descriptions so that candidates can clearly grasp whether they’re qualified for the role. This can potentially reduce the quantity of applications while also elevating their quality. And technology tools shouldn't be limited to filtering candidates. Software can schedule interviews and send out follow-up communications, expediting the process. "The employers doing this well have a good blend of tech, including AI, and humans at the right touchpoints,” says David Ellis, a Korn Ferry senior vice president for talent transformation.

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s Talent Recruitment capabilities. 

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