88% of Employers Said Their Hiring Systems Screen Out Qualified High-Skill Candidates
The Fact
In a Harvard Business School and Accenture study, 88% of employers surveyed said qualified high-skill candidates are screened out of their hiring process because they do not exactly match the job description; 94% said the same for middle-skill candidates. The authors estimated about 27 million 'hidden workers' in the U.S.
What This Means
Employers themselves report that their screening systems throw out people who could do the job. Gaps in work history and missing keywords can be enough.
Why It Matters
Being rejected by a filter is not proof you are unqualified.
Sources
Fuller, Joseph B., Manjari Raman, Eva Sage-Gavin, and Kristen Hines. Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent. Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work and Accenture, September 2021. https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/how-to-tap-the-talent-automated-hr-platforms-miss
The Register, Sept. 8, 2021. https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/08/harvard_jobs_report/
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