Half of job seekers say they get silent AI rejections

A new Enhancv survey of 1,066 U.S. job seekers says automated hiring systems are deepening distrust, with 50.5% receiving rejections without human feedback and 68.5% never told when AI was involved. The findings suggest employers’ push for automation is colliding with candidate expectations for transparency and fairness.

Why it matters: - Automated hiring is shaping who gets seen, who gets rejected and who walks away from the process. - The findings suggest a trust problem for employers using AI to manage high applicant volumes. - Silent rejections and undisclosed automation can push qualified candidates out of the funnel before a human ever reviews them.

What happened: - Enhancv surveyed 1,066 U.S. job seekers in April 2026. - The survey found 50.5% of applicants received at least one rejection in the past year without any explanation or feedback from a human recruiter. - The research also found 68.5% of candidates were never told that AI was involved in the application process. - Less than 10% of respondents, or 9.7%, said they were clearly informed that an AI system was evaluating their application.

The details: - Among applicants who got no human feedback on a rejection, 63.8% believed a machine made the final call rather than a hiring manager. - Nearly 85% of applicants were left in the dark about how their resumes were scored when combining those who were uninformed with those who were uncertain. - One-way AI video screenings and chatbot filters led 31.4% of job seekers to abandon an application or decline an interview. - 47.7% of candidates said AI hiring tools are biased against their age, race, gender or background. - Among neurodivergent job seekers, 53.4% said automated systems create unfair barriers to employment. - 79.1% of abandoned applications were for jobs paying under $100,000 a year. - 49.6% of candidates said they used AI tools to improve their performance in automated interviews and screening software. - Enhancv said the sample included entry-level workers, mid-level managers, freelancers and senior executives across multiple industries.

Between the lines: - The data points to a growing mismatch between employer efficiency and candidate experience. - The biggest friction appears to hit younger and entry-to-mid-level applicants, who often face the most automated screening. - Candidates are responding to automation with their own automation, which may deepen the arms race between screening systems and job seekers. - Volen Vulkov, Enhancv co-founder, said AI was meant to streamline recruitment, but without disclosure and clear communication, it has created a black hole that turns qualified candidates away.

What's next: - Enhancv says the full research report and dataset are available in its published analysis. - Employers that want to preserve candidate trust may face pressure to disclose when AI is used and explain how decisions are made. - The broader hiring market may keep moving toward automation, but the survey suggests transparency will become a competitive issue, not just a compliance one.

The bottom line: - AI may be speeding up recruiting, but Enhancv’s survey shows it is also making the job search feel more opaque, more biased and easier to abandon.