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The Job Market Is Hell: Young people are using ChatGPT to write their applications; HR is using AI to read them; no one is getting hired.

⁨243⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨remington@beehaw.org⁩ to ⁨technology@beehaw.org⁩

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/09/job-market-hell/684133/?gift=Vowm9zXD_VpjYJtYApIfy6iqYdFY6568omVJ07mz1tc

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Comments

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  • Kwakigra@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    The actual bubble that needs to be popped is financialization. The US economy is now completely deratched from productivity and is now running on speculation only through financial valuation. At the same time, people are starving, infrastructure is falling apart, the birth rate is plummeting, and suicide is on the rise. It’s time to stop taking “job creators” seriously and use all this fallow professional experience and skill to restart the material economy and forget this pretend crap that keeps plutocrats busy doing nothing of any value to anyone.

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    • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      The US economy is now completely detached from productivity and is now running on speculation

      Yep, the market feels like it’s in max-greed mode. There was a taste of fear when the tariffs were first announced, but wallst was quick to token TACO to justify just ignoring everything. My question for the last 9+ months has been, “how long can a market willingly ignore reality?”

      I assume it will take until a critical mass of those speculators start needing to liquidate. I don’t know what will trigger that, but at some point the profits come due.

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      • p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        My question for the last 9+ months has been, “how long can a market willingly ignore reality?”

        How long did we kick the foundations out of the US dollar when we got rid of the gold standard, and just let it float on speculation and feelings? What, 60-70 years now?

        How long has the stock market existed on the whims of people’s feelings over cold hard statistics and long-term analysis?

        Markets have been ignoring reality for many decades.

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      • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Take minimalism to the extreme. Boycott the economy as much as possible.

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  • Montreal_Metro@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Robots just hire themselves.

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  • its_me_xiphos@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Im going to start physical mailings and cold emails. I’m over this job market, its AI/ATS nonsense, and the people who think its OK.

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  • Lembot_0004@discuss.online ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    If no one is hired, it means that no one is really needed.

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    • tenchiken@anarchist.nexus ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      that's a great notion, but in the process real roles that ARE needed are empty until someone realizes the mistake, or until people die.

      This sounds like overreaction, but what about for EMS services? 911 operations? Emergency room staffing? Nursing? Hospital IT staff?

      Having open positions, or even just insufficiently filled hours, will cause situations where there are huge ramifications.

      Just because someone isn't hired, doesn't mean the role isn't critical and needed... it means there's consequences if the need is unfilled. There's dozens (or more!) of medical professionals needed desperately that aren't being hired, ultimately due to greed (those driving the AI process here) and this results in worse care.

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      • RustyShackleford@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Most hospitals have more on staff for billing than nurses and doctors. It’s a sign the hospital system is far more interested in profits these days. Most of their staff is overworked due to not hiring enough nurses, which is likely intentional. Businesses are trying to see you can skate by with minimal workforce, why not give it a shot; it’s great for profit margins, until people start dying. I’m sure they figure that’s why they have insurance.

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      • The_Italian_Uncut@beehaw.org ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        You’re right: critical roles in healthcare, emergency services, hospital IT — they’re not being filled.

        Not because they aren’t needed. Because the system doesn’t reward filling them. It rewards cost-cutting, higher margins, shareholder returns.

        So we automate hiring with AI… …to justify not hiring humans.

        The machine isn’t the problem. It’s the excuse.

        We’re moving from a system that grew rich by exploiting people — with CEOs earning hundreds of times more than their workers — to one that thinks it can grow rich by eliminating workers altogether.

        But if everyone cuts staff… who will buy the goods?

        And when no one has money, who will buy what AI produces?

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    • Rhaedas@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Got to keep the illusion that there is a healthy job market otherwise the statistics will crash and show reality.

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      • bobs_monkey@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Not to mention we can’t ruffle the feathers of dear leader

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      • Midnitte@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Already sort of ruined that

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    • Revan343@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      You’ve never worked somewhere that refused to fill a position that desperately needed filling?

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      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Yeah but the business is still operating, right? No matter that it’s ruining the work quality of those who are left, if things are still working then it means you can cut that position. So much efficiency of the open market!

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    • t3rmit3@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      That is a bunch of assumptions right there.

      The reality is that businesses often don’t know when more people are needed, don’t have the correct people making the decisions whether to hire even if needed, can’t get the budgets approved even if the hiring mgmt chain is on board, can’t get approval to offer competitive salaries, etc etc.

      There are a million reasons why companies don’t hire when they need to, or do hire when they don’t.

      Humans aren’t perfectly rational, and can’t create perfectly rational systems.

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      • MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        You had me, until the second-half of your last sentence. Its more like we can’t rely on perfectly rational systems, because we don’t comply, neither perfectly nor rationally.

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  • bownage@beehaw.org ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    On the one hand, it’s nice to be able to have the recruiter AI agent I made write applications for me because I hate that part. After that, I can do the interviews myself just fine and I’m all good.

    On the other hand, it feels disgusting and lazy.

    But it works much better than last time I was job hunting (last year) and did everything by hand.

    It’s showing me that (as far as I can tell) recruiters don’t give a shit and barely read what you send them. They’ll reach out as long as your LinkedIn is SEO optimised.

    Depressing but true

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    • ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      What is SEO optimized?

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      • Reil@beehaw.org ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        It’s a bit redundant since the O stands for “Optimization”, but it means Search Engine Optimization. Basically structure your stuff so it shows up in more searches (use popular terms in your profile, make posts with key phrases, fill out all the fields).

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  • belated_frog_pants@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I hate ai

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  • The_Italian_Uncut@beehaw.org ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    This isn’t just ChatGPT vs. HR. It’s a system where automation replaces human labor at every level — from hiring to production.

    I’ve just published an episode on how AI, robotics, and exponential change aren’t just transforming jobs — but possibly the entire future of the economy.

    We’re in a transitional phase. The next few years are crucial.

    So if you’re asking ‘Will AI take your job?’, the deeper question is: What happens when the economy no longer needs people?

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    • Flax_vert@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Sorry mate. You’re not taking our job.

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    • bl4kers@beehaw.org ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Seems oversimplified and hyperbolic. The economy will always need people because people are the demand. And because markets are largely unpredictable, supply relies on people making strategic decisions. That will never change. Not everything can be quantified, collected, analyzed, and automated

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      • The_Italian_Uncut@beehaw.org ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        You say the economy will always need people because they are the demand. But who buys AI systems? Other companies. Who buys weapons? Governments. Who buys logistics automation? Corporations.

        The demand isn’t from people. It’s from systems that want to eliminate people.

        This isn’t hyperbole. It’s the trend.

        We published an episode on this — not to claim we have all the answers, but to show it’s more complex than ‘people will always be needed’.

        If you’ve listened and still disagree, I’d love to hear your counterpoints. Maybe the real oversimplification is believing we already know how this story ends — before the data is even in.

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      • eleitl@lemmy.zip ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Sufficiently advanced automation is indistinguishable from consumers.

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    • Bababasti@feddit.org ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      These are interesting thoughts you are voicing but your usage of em-dashes is highly suspicious, Mr./Mrs. Robot.

      /s I like these dashes myself as someone who has some sort of education in typography

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      • melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        You say /s but look at that account’s profile, it just straight up is AI lol

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    • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      What happens when the economy no longer needs people?

      The automated genocide of the working class. Duh.

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  • Flax_vert@feddit.uk ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Someone I was interacting with for customer service was writing with AI and was offering me servcies that didn’t exist. Backfired on them when they offered a replacement for a product which was a different model (my issue is that the original model didn’t suit my needs) or a refund, so I asked if they could send me a replacement that fits my use-case. The human then comes on and just sends me the same thing again…

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  • SebaDC@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Time to make some real connections in the real world.

    Shit is getting scary.

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    • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Nah. When the power turns off, im taking my go bag and living in a library and will continue to ignore the awful world i was forced to live in.

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      • SebaDC@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        With the maga crowd (and its copycats), I’m not sure a library is the safest place…

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  • vala@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Can confirm

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    • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Same

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