The job market may not look dire on paper, but behind the scenes, landing a role has become increasingly difficult. Younger workers, especially Gen-Z men, are struggling to break in, while older employees face steep hurdles after layoffs. And now, the rise of AI tools is reshaping both sides of the equation—automating some jobs out of existence while also overwhelming the hiring process itself.
A new study from Georgia-based credit bureau Equifax sheds light on how AI is disrupting recruiting. HR professionals report being flooded with misleading résumés, many of them boosted or outright fabricated with AI assistance. Only one in five HR leaders says they feel “very confident” in spotting fake credentials.
The problem is far from isolated. According to the Equifax survey, 71 percent of more than 200 HR professionals say they’ve encountered false or misleading information from candidates—whether inflated job titles, made-up employment history, or questionable educational credentials. These kinds of résumé “embellishments” have always existed, but AI has supercharged their scale and polish.
Bart Lautenbach, senior vice president and general manager of talent solutions at Equifax, says the hiring industry is facing “new challenges with the prevalence of misleading candidate information,” and he puts the blame on AI-generated résumés. Employers often think they’ve found a promising candidate, only to discover during background checks that much of the experience was exaggerated or fabricated. Verifying this takes time and resources, slowing down the very process HR teams are supposed to streamline. And hiring the wrong person, Lautenbach warns, can be costly.
But he also notes that AI could be part of the solution. Tools like automated employment verification can help HR departments cut through the noise, saving them time and ensuring that only the most qualified applicants move forward.
Other data underscores how widespread résumé misrepresentation has become. AI Resume Builder, an online platform, reports that one in ten job seekers admits to lying on their applications—most commonly by tweaking employment dates or job responsibilities. Among those who lied, three in four still received job offers, and more than 90 percent say their deception was never uncovered.
Equifax suggests that HR teams may only be scratching the surface when it comes to using AI to improve recruitment and onboarding. The bigger picture, though, is that AI is rapidly reshaping the labor market itself. Critics warn that college-age workers who lean heavily on AI tools may lack some of the problem-solving skills employers want. Meanwhile, as more jobs get displaced by automation, the sheer number of applicants for every opening could climb, worsening the flood of questionable résumés.
For business leaders, the takeaway is clear: even if your HR department feels on top of things, it may be worth asking whether they’re struggling to sift through fake or inflated applications. Investing in better verification tools now could help ensure you’re hiring the right people in an increasingly uncertain labor landscape.