The Gen Z Job Market Is Broken. AI Résumé Filters Are Making It Worse

Around the 80th or 90th application, it begins to feel more like shouting into a server room than a job search. Not an echo. No answer. Just the quiet, mechanical hum of a system scoring you, processing you, and going on. “It’s very clear that your résumé just goes into this pool that’s filtered by AI,” said Lucia Ferrero, a 23-year-old aspiring writer who works as a waitress on Long Island while applying for editorial jobs. “And then it doesn’t even get looked at.” About 100 applications have been sent by her. She hasn’t stopped waiting.

This is the current nature of the Gen Z job search: it’s not only challenging in the same way that employment markets have always been challenging, but also peculiar in a way that seems novel. The rate of hiring in the US has fallen to its lowest point since the pandemic’s early stages. For Americans between the ages of 22 and 27, the unemployment rate is rising. Additionally, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York data, underemployment among recent college graduates reached nearly 43% at the end of 2025. This figure probably warrants more concern than it currently receives. According to analysts, the 2026 graduating class will face the worst job market for recent graduates since the start of the pandemic.I’ve been putting in a lot of effort to demonstrate my experience, and if I don’t do it correctly, I’ll be automatically rejected.”

It’s not just the lack of jobs that distinguishes this downturn from previous ones. It’s the application process’s architecture. AI-powered applicant tracking systems are now used by over 70% of hiring managers to filter and score resumes before a human ever sees them. The typical recruiter looks at a resume for about 11 seconds after it passes that gate. Eleven seconds. That’s more of a glance than a reading. The harsh irony is that in response to this dynamic, both sides have increased their reliance on the same technology. AI is being used by candidates to generate applications in large quantities and by employers to reject them in large quantities. According to a recent statement from Greenhouse’s CEO, the outcome is “more applications, less signal, and less transparency.” It’s possible that this arrangement doesn’t really benefit anyone.

Tolu Dapo-Adeyemo, a 22-year-old senior at the University of North Carolina studying public relations and advertising, has applied for 30 to 50 jobs. “For at least half of the applications I do, I need to pass some sort of résumé scanner,” they stated, “and if I don’t, it’s wraps.” Dapo-Adeyemo is aware that their strong suit is conducting effective interviews. However, the reward on the other side of a gate they are unable to consistently open is human conversation. “Not having the opportunity is disheartening,” they replied. They took a position as a college adviser a few weeks after talking to Bloomberg. Even though it’s not in their field of choice, they still have a job. Similar compromises are being made by many people their age.

The recursive nature of the AI problem is particularly peculiar at this time. AI is used by candidates to create keyword-stuffed resumes that are intended to trick applicant tracking systems. Because AI-assisted applications are becoming indistinguishable from one another, many employers now have a negative opinion of them. As ATS systems become more intelligent, they are beginning to flag those resumes as suspicious. A generation that was instructed to optimize is now punished for doing so too successfully. It’s difficult to ignore the fact that this result was not intended. It simply resulted from a series of individually rational decisions compounding into collective dysfunction, as bad systems often do.

Even so, some graduates manage to get through, usually by taking the slowest and oldest path. Martina Demory got her job as a marketing event specialist at a cybersecurity company thanks to a mentor who personally recommended her. “She wrote this whole email about how I performed and how capable I was, and that’s literally why I got the job,” she replied. A human recommendation that sifts through the pile. It shouldn’t seem like a unique opportunity. And yet. After months of looking, Ashley Terrell, who had a business degree from the University of Hawaii and a Red Bull marketing internship on her resume, received her only offer from Home Depot’s power tools department. Since then, she has developed her own clientele through branded content, turning her homemade videos into a part-time marketing position at a nearby distillery. “No one was offering me anything like what I wanted to do,” she replied. “So I just tried to see what I could do on my own.”

This cohort is increasingly exhibiting that impulse to build a new door instead of waiting for the old one to open. According to a global Fiverr survey, roughly half of Gen Z workers think traditional employment is about to become obsolete, and 67% of them want multiple sources of income to feel financially secure. Whether that is a sign of true entrepreneurial confidence or a coping strategy disguised as ambition is still up for debate. Most likely a combination of the two. The traditional compact—go to college, get a job, move up the ladder—seems to be eroding in ways that don’t feel fleeting. “The old promise was stability,” stated Shola West, a 25-year-old London brand consultant who was fired soon after beginning a new position. “The new promise is ownership.” She now works for companies like Sony Music and Paramount, manages her own consultancy, and produces content for TikTok. She described herself as “kind of forced into it.”

In all of this, there is something worthwhile to sit with. In the past, entry-level jobs were where people learned how offices operated, how to work in a hierarchy, and how to make mistakes in a setting where they could be forgiven. That rung is vanishing. According to Khosla Ventures venture capitalist Ethan Choi, he no longer has a sizable team of junior associates. AI is used by partners to perform tasks that were previously performed by associates. According to Joseph Fuller of Harvard Business School, entry-level employees now face entirely different expectations. You must be prepared with the knowledge that entry-level was meant to impart. It’s not just that climbing the ladder has become more difficult. The bottom rungs were moved by someone.