Companies (large and small) tend to outsource their HR front end, relying on third parties to handle the voluminous applications that come into a job (in some cases it could literally be tens of thousands of applicants for a single job).
But these third parties may not be playing fair.
I read an article about a lawsuit against the "Workday company," who offer this service. The suit alleges that workday use some kind of automation (they refer to as AI, but I'm skeptical) to immediately (like within seconds) weed out candidates who the system determines are over 40 (based on years worked or degree dates or whatever).
The company defends itself by saying that it's legitimate automation and it's looking at skills and experience for a job, and the kicker is that since there's no human involved it can't be age discrimination!
And in today's world, who knows? They may be "correct" in that assessment.
But the bigger picture is that the companies that use these services (which is pretty much all of them) are complicit in their discrimnatory hiring practices. The suit is about age, but the HR company builds their automation around what the hiring company wants, which may include other things beyond age. And because they're just a front end, it leaves the hiring company's "hands clean."
But that means that for the average person - especially an older worker looking for a job - it's literally impossible that any application they submit would EVER be considered.
The only real options to stand a chance are to network or use a headhunter. But then, of course, you have little control over the situation, or type of job that may be available. "The man" has control over all of it, and you have no choices.
Its all an elaborate illusion of work.
That's totally screwed up.
