The Rise of AI-Assisted Job Applications

A major shift is underway in hiring, and we’re seeing it across Workable every day. Around 10% of the job applications flowing through our platform are now submitted via AI mass-apply tools. But what does this signal for employers? Is it a genuine disruption, or simply a misunderstood change in candidate behavior?

To unpack this, Workable CEO Nikos Moraitakis offers important insight:

“These aren’t ‘fake’ candidates. The vast majority are real people with real resumes.”

For some recruiters, the surge in AI-assisted applications feels like pollution. The instinct is to block them entirely. But as Moraitakis cautions:

“Refusing AI-assisted applications in 2025 is a little like refusing applications that came from the web in 1997.”

AI tools for candidates aren’t going away, they’re becoming embedded in how people look for work. Blocking them risks excluding qualified, proactive individuals who are simply using new technology.

Workable’s Approach: Adapt, Don’t Resist

As more candidates use AI tools, the real challenge is separating signal from noise in a world where candidate volume, both human and AI-driven, continues to multiply. Employers need clearer signals to understand who is applying, how often, and with what level of intent. Workable is addressing this by improving identity and intent signals across the inbound funnel. Using data and behavioral patterns visible only at Workable’s scale, we help teams:

• Identify when the same individual applies multiple times
• Reach the person behind each application through reliably identifiable contact details
• Reduce duplication and keep pipelines clean
• Prioritize higher intent, more thoughtful applications, even when AI assisted, over high volume low intent automation

As Moraitakis puts it:

“The winners will be the employers with tools that can separate signal from noise.”

AI is Essential for Recruiters

As application volume grows, AI must help process AI. We’re equipping recruiters with screening tools that ensure:

• AI handles AI-generated volume
• Humans can focus on talking to humans
• Teams regain time and clarity

Or as Moraitakis summarizes:

“We’re going to need AI as a countermeasure to AI.”

Looking Ahead: Where Talent Acquisition Is Going

AI is expanding the scale of processes that once felt human and intimate. Recruiters now need modern tools to keep hiring effective, fair, and rooted in human judgment.

Candidate tools will get smarter. Application volume will increase.

But Workable’s mission remains unchanged: help employers find and hire great people.

As Moraitakis concludes:

“The job market isn’t going back. It’s time to build the infrastructure that lets great hires rise to the top – no matter how they knock on the door.”