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The writer is the author of “Anonymous: How to Navigate the Future”
I am currently recruiting a young man, recent graduate with a degree in Cyber Security. But it doesn't keep my network safe from hackers. He splits records, because the hours he spends alone online, searching for his first job, leave him isolated and depressed. His mother was about to cry because she was worried about him. My point is that a little help might be some work that gets him out of the house and gives him a little fresh air, exercise and money.
It's a bad solution to a desperate problem. He is one of tens of thousands of young people, who are often ridiculed by older generations as snowflakes or lazy. But it is none of those things. He shows up on time and does an excellent job. If I were still running software companies, I would give it a try. At least an interview. However, this is not how the job market works these days. Instead, the world's dorm rooms are filled with lonely young people wading through websites promising that their powerful algorithmic filtering system will take them straight to the job of their dreams. In fact they do no such thing.
Just give it a try. On some of the most popular job search sites, I submitted search terms that included the phrases “entry level” or “entry level,” and received pages and pages of jobs, most of which required at least three or even five years of experience. It's a terrible business model that values high traffic and time on site more than accuracy. But of course, the applicants are not the customers, but the advertisers. Who cares if kids who just want to get their first real job burn themselves out wading through pages and pages of irrelevant ads that basically convey a simple message: You're worthless?
If, by chance, job seekers discover a relevant clue, they devote countless hours to crafting a tailored personal statement. These apps are rarely acknowledged, and it's not clear if anyone has read them. Instead, they are often screened and rejected, usually without an automated “thanks but no thanks.” A 2021 Harvard Business School study showed that 90 percent of employers use automated tracking software to screen applications, although most admit that these systems screen qualified candidates because they don't precisely match criteria in the job description. Rarities that make it to the next number of unknown rounds often face tests or interviews with a bot that provides no feedback.
Job seekers learn nothing from this process, it's just that the world doesn't care about them. After months of searching, they feel humiliated and completely alienated from the world of work, even before they start. It is the most dehumanizing process I have ever encountered. I once worked in a call center.
As ministers discuss cutting benefits to boost incentives, they may consider how deeply the system discourages access to jobs. It is a recipe for discontent and anger. When young people see that society does not have any interest in them, rejecting any interest in society is a small step for them. A few candidates will know people who know people, but many parents don't know how to help their children, so the world of work has changed profoundly since their first jobs. Seeing this robotic misery, they feel insulted as well.
Employers may imagine that the system is effective. In fact, it is a missed opportunity. Every time someone applies for a job, there is an opportunity to build that company's reputation. These young people (and their parents) are also consumers. So this is the moment to polish the brand, not tarnish it. Children will remember who helped them and who treated them like they were disposable. No amount of advertising will convince them that companies that never responded will ever care about people, the planet, or customers.
The whole bleak system sends a weak signal of an already uncertain future. Earlier this year, research by Imperial College London found that in the two years between July 2021 and July 2023, “online freelancers in occupations most vulnerable to automation saw an overall 21 per cent decline in weekly demand for… “Their skills.” Lacking power or a union, these workers are largely invisible.
Those who embrace technology in recruitment without thinking are willfully ignoring its consequences. Across the board we have generations of motivated and capable young people struggling to pay the bills and make their contributions. We must now think about how to maintain social cohesion, if only for the simple reason that in the absence of this cohesion no business will flourish.
