Round 80% of employees really feel unprepared for the job hunt in 2026, new LinkedIn analysis finds.
Filadendron | E+ | Getty Photographs
Synthetic intelligence might be one thing of a recreation changer for recruiters as corporations proceed to be inundated with job purposes, in response to one LinkedIn govt.
Janine Chamberlin, LinkedIn’s U.Okay. nation supervisor, informed CNBC Make It in an interview that AI will likely be a “essential a part of how hiring is completed in 2026,” because it hastens processes.
“Final yr was the yr of experimentation and corporations and professionals taking their first steps. 2026 is the yr of extra widespread adoption of AI instruments, notably in hiring,” she stated.
AI might help recruiters pace up handbook duties corresponding to going by means of very excessive volumes of purposes and sifting by means of resumes and canopy letters to seek out the appropriate expertise for a job.
“We have heard from 60% of recruiters that AI helps them to seek out what they’d name a ‘hidden gem’ expertise — so folks that they’d have, of their handbook search, neglected, however really AI is surfacing that as a candidate that could be a good match for a particular job, as a result of it could actually look very particularly at these expertise so critically essential to do it effectively,” Chamberlin stated.
The job market has been tough for each employers and professionals as widespread layoffs dominate headlines and professionals face intense competitors for jobs.
Over 1 million job cuts have been introduced within the U.S. in 2025, the best stage for the reason that Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, in response to information from consulting agency Challenger, Grey & Christmas.
In the meantime, the variety of purposes per position have skyrocketed, making it tough for employers to reply shortly to purposes. Actually, new Linkedin analysis finds that U.S. candidates per open position have doubled for the reason that spring of 2022.
Chamberlin stated that is creating an awesome cycle within the job market that’s tough for each job seekers and recruiters to deal with.
“The job search is more durable proper now, as a result of what we’re seeing is that there is such a excessive quantity of purposes for every position that there’s accessible. So, if I am a job seeker, I am making use of to plenty of roles. On the flip facet, there’s firms recruiters who’re receiving plenty of purposes.
“Corporations are discovering it exhausting to filter by means of these purposes shortly sufficient to seek out individuals with the appropriate talent set for the roles that they are hiring for. And the job seeker on the opposite facet of that’s ready to listen to again from firms while getting more and more anxious as a result of they won’t be listening to again,” Chamberlin stated.
The anxious job seeker then goes and applies to extra roles to extend their probabilities of getting a job, persevering with the cycle.
Chamberlin says AI is a “large a part of the answer,” with 93% of recruiters planning to extend their use of AI in 2026, per the LinkedIn analysis.
Keep away from sending generic purposes
The beginning of the brand new yr sometimes brings an inflow of latest job openings and motivated job seekers. Nevertheless, as AI turns into central to hiring, many professionals are rethinking the best way to navigate the job market.
LinkedIn’s world analysis, which surveyed 19,000 respondents globally, together with from the U.Okay, U.S., France, Germany and Australia, discovered that 80% of employees really feel unprepared for the job hunt in 2026 and almost two-thirds really feel that the job search has grow to be tougher.
Chamberlin suggested tailoring purposes and to keep away from mass-applying with generic cowl letters, as AI is now typically the primary to assessment a job software.
It is essential to “be focused” when crafting your resume and canopy letter. “Making use of for roles that genuinely match your expertise will all the time outperform sending plenty of generic purposes, for each AI and for people,” she stated.
Chamberlin stated that utilizing AI might help make your software extra succinct as it could actually determine the place you are not highlighting the abilities you want for a selected job.
“In an AI-driven job market, readability is essential,” she stated. “In case you can be sure that your expertise are highlighted very clearly in your resume, on the duvet letter, in your LinkedIn profile, naturally, I believe that is what’s actually going that will help you stand out.”
Lastly, Chamberlin urged prioritizing easy codecs and to keep away from overly stylistic templates as it may be complicated to learn for AI.
