AI Hiring Tools May Be Pushing Women Out of the Workforce as Experienced Candidates Struggle

To recall, this anxiety comes as employers increasingly adopt artificial intelligence to help manage large volumes of applications. Because companies rarely disclose their recruitment processes, it is often impossible to determine whether AI influenced a particular rejection. However, there are widespread concerns that some systems could disadvantage mid-life women attempting to re-enter the corporate sector.

Older Applicants Describe Repeated AI Hiring Rejections

North London resident Stacey Duguid, 52, offers a compelling illustration. After a career spanning decades that included senior corporate roles in the fashion industry and a period of freelancing, she decided to find 'one last job'. Having never previously struggled to find work, what followed was 16 months of sending 'gazillions' of CVs, yielding only a handful of automated replies.

Feeling lonely and shameful, Duguid wondered if the situation was a 'me problem'. She posted on social media to ask whether other women her age were having the same experience, and thousands of women replied stating they were facing similar difficulties.

Duguid firmly believes AI-powered recruitment tools could be contributing to the problem. She removed references to her age and experience from her CV, referring to it as having the document 'Botoxed'. 'AI holds a mirror up to society. It's a reflection of our bias,' she said. 'I'm not saying this is just a women's issue, I've had messages from men too. My point is about gendered ageism.'

Experts Warn Tools May Overlook Transferable Skills

Many interviewed women possess decades of senior experience, yet report submitting countless applications only to receive automated rejections. Koeyli Jaluka, 49, has held senior roles across manufacturing, corporate, and healthcare sectors. 'I've never been in this position before,' she explained. 'For the last 10 to 12 years I've been headhunted. Now I'm hunting for jobs and being relentlessly rejected.'

Made redundant nine months ago, Jaluka applied for 442 jobs, hearing back rarely. Occasionally told she was 'too senior', she believes this is code for old. Despite two degrees and two decades of experience, her confidence has taken a hit. She believes tighter budgets, AI screening, and narrow hiring criteria contribute. Jaluka noted career coaches advise some applicants to shave off the first 10 years of work on their CVs so they do not appear to have worked too long.

Anna Cowie, 52, enjoyed a 30-year advertising career, most recently launching Battersea Power Station, yet has been unemployed for almost four years. Never previously without a job, she has lost count of sent CVs. Now on jobseeker's allowance, Cowie volunteers for community festivals, finding networking in person a much more promising approach. 'You're seen as a human and not just lines on paper,' she observed.

Understanding the Broader Impact on Mid-Life Women

The City of London Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce has raised formal concerns about AI in recruitment. Chair Caroline Haines stated their research uncovered significant concern that AI screening does not recognise the skills experienced women bring.

'There is a high level of concern that AI at initial recruitment level doesn't account for the skills of a vast body of women that could be very effective and therefore promote economic growth,' she said. Some fear systems overlook skills gained through non-linear paths, women taking time out for childcare have employment gaps that AI could interpret negatively.

The taskforce estimates that AI and automation could displace hundreds of thousands of women's jobs by 2035. Using data from Market and skills projections 2020 to 2035, published by the Department for Education, they estimate that, without significant investment in retraining, firms could face more than £750m in severance costs.

In a recent survey of over 1,000 women, 68 per cent said they were not given the opportunity to retrain into digital roles. 'When the country is desperate for economic growth, we need to use whatever resource we have,' Haines warned. It is a wildly frustrating situation when highly experienced professionals are left out in the cold.

Lack Of Regulation And Automated Hiring Logic

Some London-based companies have stopped using AI tools because of bias concerns. Laura Holden, an AI lawyer and founder of the Bonsai AI consultancy, said companies often do not understand the tools, potentially causing significant harm. She argued it is difficult to determine whether there is bias because there is a lack of regulation globally requiring providers to show how their tools work.

Holden identified CV screening and AI-scored interviews as areas where bias could emerge. One tool grades CVs from A to D, which may encourage recruiters to prioritise higher-ranked candidates. Others flag a seven-year career gap as a 'thing to note', potentially influencing decisions unfairly.

Holden stated providers are very quick to claim their tools are safe, while marketing them in ways that could encourage employers to reject applicants based on AI-generated scores. Although companies describe them as decision-support tools, she argued they often functioned as automated decision-making systems. She called for mandatory testing and stronger regulation, arguing existing laws were not designed with artificial intelligence in mind.

Dr Eleanor Drage, a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge, did not mince her words when assessing the situation, noting that fears of AI sidelining women in the job market are, in fact, very justified. She argued that human recruiters were better able to recognise the value of candidates returning from career breaks, such as maternity leave, and the transferable skills they bring, which are qualities an automated system may overlook.

While Drage said it was very difficult to prove AI recruitment tools are inherently biased, she argued the logic they operate by is completely faulty because they cannot assess a person's intrinsic value or personality in the way a human recruiter could. She added that many recruiters do not fully understand how these tools work, suggesting companies should use AI to evaluate their own hiring practices rather than to assess vulnerable populations returning to the workforce.

While acknowledging the benefits of identifying candidates similar to successful past hires, she maintained they are often not on the jobseeker's side.

Workday Denies Claims Of Discriminatory Hiring Practices

These concerns relate to the broader use of AI recruitment tools, rather than a single provider. Workday, the maker of popular AI-powered human resources software, is facing claims that it violated Californian law thousands of times by weeding out job applicants at many major companies for discriminatory reasons.

The case is continuing, and the allegations have not been finally determined. Workday denies the claims, stating that the allegations in the suit were false and adding that its tools do not make hiring decisions.

Taking a broader view of the software landscape, Workday emphasised that its recruitment technology is designed to help employers find candidates who naturally fit a job description based on actual skills and experience, ultimately supporting human judgement rather than taking it out of the equation entirely.

The company said its AI was rigorously tested through its Responsible AI programme and does not consider traits such as age or gender. When used responsibly, Workday added, AI can help qualified candidates avoid getting lost in the pile.

Government Faces Pressure To Make Hiring Transparent

The political establishment is now taking a much closer look at this rapid digital shift. Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently weighed in on the growing controversy, voicing his own concerns that handing recruitment over to AI certainly hasn't made the process any fairer.

Echoing this sentiment, a government spokesperson pointed out that while artificial intelligence can undoubtedly help busy employers handle massive piles of applications, the actual process of hiring people still needs to remain fair, completely transparent, and accessible to everyone.

Existing legal protections, including equality and data protection law, already apply to AI systems, and the government stated it will act where additional protections are needed. A spokesperson for Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said AI presented both opportunities and challenges, particularly as women are more likely to work in AI-exposed roles, backing recommendations from the London AI and Jobs Taskforce.

As for Duguid, she has set up a community chat and platform to help women feel less alone, and to help companies address the issues in question. 'I want us, as a group, to be heard and seen. And for gendered ageism to become a thing of the past,' she said. 'Because if we're lucky, we all get old.'