Key facts
- Women aged 40-65 across various industries report significant difficulty finding employment.
- Many believe AI recruitment tools contribute to gendered ageism by potentially penalizing older candidates or those with career breaks.
- Experts suggest AI tools may overlook valuable skills and transferable experience, leading to unfair rejections.
- Concerns exist that AI recruitment systems can function as automated decision-making systems rather than just decision-support tools.
- A taskforce estimates AI and automation could displace hundreds of thousands of women's jobs by 2035.
- Workday, a major HR software provider, is facing legal claims of discriminatory applicant screening.
Many mid-career and older women are facing significant challenges in finding employment, with some believing that AI-powered recruitment tools are contributing to gendered ageism. These women, often with decades of experience, report submitting numerous applications only to receive automated rejections or no response.
Stacey Duguid, 52, described "botoxing" her CV by removing age and experience references after a prolonged job search. She believes AI tools reflect societal biases. Similarly, Koeyli Jaluka, 49, has applied for over 400 jobs and feels her confidence has been impacted, suspecting that being told she is "too senior" is code for being too old. Anna Cowie, 52, has been unemployed for nearly four years after a 30-year career in advertising, finding networking more effective than CV submissions.
The City of London Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce has raised concerns that AI screening systems may not recognize the skills of experienced women, particularly those with career breaks for childcare. The taskforce estimates that AI and automation could displace hundreds of thousands of women's jobs by 2035. AI lawyer Laura Holden highlighted that companies often lack understanding of how these tools function, leading to potential harm and bias, especially given a lack of global regulation requiring transparency.
Dr. Eleanor Drage, a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge, agrees that concerns about AI disadvantaging women are justified. She argues that AI's logic is "completely faulty" as it cannot assess intrinsic value or personality like a human recruiter. Drage suggests companies should use AI to evaluate their own hiring practices rather than to assess "vulnerable populations." The article notes that Workday, a maker of AI-powered HR software, is facing legal claims of discriminatory applicant screening, though the company denies these allegations.