Even as job search activity rises, the mechanics of hiring—ghost jobs, mismatched roles and slow processes—are eroding trust in the system.
Professionals are applying more broadly, often below their skill level, just to secure employment. This friction is reinforcing pessimism and suppressing confidence.
A lot of the friction in tech hiring today stems from how quickly the tech landscape has evolved and scaled. Applicants are leveraging AI and other new tools in their job search, leaving companies to manage a higher volume of applicants than ever before.
In addition, AI-driven workflows and integration of AI into the workplace have shifted role requirements.
This has created gaps between how roles are defined, how candidates are evaluated, and how hiring decisions are made.
Skills Scarcity, Outdated Hiring Workflows
Abhinav Shrivastava, IDC research manager, talent acquisition and strategy, explains the current hiring friction in tech primarily originates from the conundrum of skills scarcity, a post-COVID cautious approach to talent, and traditional hiring workflows which are not suited for the current market landscape.
“Businesses across industries are unwilling to take an aggressive all-you-can-get stance for talent as they did during the early 2020s,” he says. “Hiring managers are increasingly getting selective to optimize skills, cultural, and cost composition of teams.”
At the same time, legacy hiring workflows are fragmented across different solutions creating blind spots for recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates, leading to poor experience and engagement for all stakeholders.
“It hits candidates the most, as they end up in the dark for days and weeks waiting for an update from recruiters,” Shrivastava explains.
Tan Moorthy, CEO of Revature, explains today's tech hiring is being shaped by two powerful and simultaneous forces: widespread layoffs across the sector and the absence of holistic workforce planning within organizations.
“AI is automating tasks across many roles while making others significantly more productive, compelling organizations to redefine existing roles and create entirely new ones,” he says. “However, without clear and well-thought-out job descriptions, hiring becomes difficult and imprecise.”
Compounding this is a talent shortage: There are simply not enough professionals with hands-on experience in these newly defined roles, leaving both employers and candidates in a state of uncertainty.
“Beyond the skills gap, pervasive uncertainty about job security across organizations is driving a surge in applications for any role that signals stability, regardless of level,” Moorthy says. “This behavior is less a reflection of candidate ambition and more a barometer of how unsettled the market truly is.”
Ghost Jobs, Slow Processes
Greg Summers, CEO of Orion Talent, explains ghost jobs and slow processes are symptoms of that larger disconnect, serving as proof points that current hiring systems are not keeping up with real business needs.
“While it’s important for organizations to build talent pipelines even when they’re not actively hiring, posting roles without clear intent can create confusion,” he says.
Creating defined pathways for candidates, such as talent communities versus active applications, helps give job seekers the clarity and transparency they look for in the job search process.
Summers explains that in the current environment, candidates are responding by widening their search and spending less time engaging deeply with a single opportunity.
“Over time, this creates a cycle where trust deteriorates and both sides struggle to find alignment,” he says. “Companies struggle to signal what they’re truly looking for, and candidates wrestle with understanding where they fit.”
Friction Drives Application Evolution
Shrivastava says there’s been a surge in the use of GenAI tools to tailor and customize resumes for better alignment with job descriptions.
“However, that has created the challenge of homogenized resumes, weakening skill signal quality at the top of the recruitment funnel and making it difficult for employers to shortlist the right candidate,” he says.
With AI eliminating job titles, most candidates have switched to a defensive job strategy and are using underemployment as a hedge against market uncertainty.
Summers says rather than a smaller and tailored search, candidates are opting for a volume-based approach with the hopes of securing a role first and refining their search toward a better long-term fit later.
At the same time, candidates are receiving less feedback throughout the hiring process due to large quantities of applications, making it harder to further improve and calibrate their search.
“Even when the right candidate might be available, this dynamic reinforces a disconnect between talent and opportunity, which in turn can slow career progression and make workforce planning more complex for employers,” Summers says.
Job Descriptions Falling Short
Cameron Daniel, chief technology officer at Megaport, says a common failure point is the disconnect between job descriptions and the day-to-day reality of the role.
“Roles are often written as idealized versions of what a team wants, rather than what is needed to deliver outcomes,” he says.
This misalignment creates friction at multiple stages. Candidates may enter a process with incorrect expectations or accept roles that do not match their skill set, leading to early dissatisfaction or underperformance.
Daniel says to address this, leaders need to focus less on static role definitions and more on the capabilities required to achieve specific goals.
“Hiring should be anchored in outcomes, not checklists,” he explains. “When expectations are clearly aligned with the actual work, organizations are more likely to make effective hiring decisions and build teams that perform consistently.”
Reducing Friction, Rebuilding Trust
Shrivastava says keeping candidates informed throughout the recruitment lifecycle can significantly improve hiring outcomes and reduce drop-offs.
“Another area of focus should be keeping hiring managers and recruiters on the same page about hiring objectives and expected business outcomes,” he says.
When it comes to selecting the right technology partner, whether that means choosing a single talent acquisition provider or building an ecosystem of integrated partners depends on business needs.
Summers says reducing friction begins with bringing greater clarity, transparency, and alignment into the hiring process from start to finish.
That means employers must ensure that any roles that are open reflect actual business needs and that everyone involved in the hiring process is aligned on what success looks like for that position.
Saying what the hiring process entails up front, setting clear timelines (and holding teams accountable to them), and communicating when they may need to shift goes a long way in improving the candidate experience.
“Just as important is providing transparency around how decisions are made and sharing valuable feedback when available,” he says.
Employers should also look at where technology can be applied within the process to improve efficiency and enhance the candidate experience. Organizations that take the time to educate candidates about the role and how it fits into the business needs see stronger engagement and find qualified candidates.
“Together, these steps help create a more efficient and effective hiring process for both candidates and employers,” Summers says.
