Survey: 81% of job applicants are rejected before speaking to anyone

A Greenhouse survey of more than 1,100 job seekers in the UK and Ireland found that 81% of applicants are rejected without speaking to anyone at the company. The findings appear in the hiring platform’s 2026 Future of Hiring Report.

The survey suggests job seekers are trying to make applications appeal to screening systems while still sounding human. Younger applicants were more aware of the challenges of AI screening than people over 60. Greenhouse also found that 97% of job seekers wish they could show something not captured in their application.

AI interviews are part of the process for some candidates: 42% said they had completed one in the past 12 months, and 57% said it let them demonstrate their skills.

Employers, meanwhile, are seeing AI-polished CVs that can look alike. “For the first time I can remember, neither side thinks hiring is working,” said Sharawn Tipton, Greenhouse’s chief people officer. She said candidates’ applications can disappear into a “black hole” while employers sift through similar-looking CVs.

Greenhouse’s Ophir Samson said trust should be built into the process from the start, and that applicants need to understand how they are screened before submitting a CV.