If you’re building or hiring in 2025, you’ve felt it: AI has blown the doors off traditional recruiting. The rules are changing, and fast. This newsletter is a weekly checkpoint for founders, recruiters, and hiring managers navigating this shift.

I’m Håkon, the founder of Vouch, an AI-native hiring assistant built for fast-moving teams and recruiters. We will regularly share market signals, practical models, and sharp observations on how hiring is changing so you can reset your hiring strategy with clarity and confidence.

Let’s dive in.

🧠 The job market is quietly imploding

The New York Times reports that LinkedIn is now clocking 11,000 job applications per minute, many written (or fully submitted) by AI agents. One recruiter received 1,200 applications in under 48 hours for a remote tech role. She’s still sorting through them, months later.

Generative AI tools that make it effortless for candidates to apply at scale are named as the culprits. With a single prompt, they can inject the exact keywords from any job description into a polished resume. Some candidates are taking it further by outsourcing their job search entirely to paid AI agents that find and apply to jobs automatically.

The result is a hiring pipeline that’s high in volume but low in signal. Recruiters are overwhelmed. Candidates are frustrated. And nobody’s really winning.

In response, employers are turning to AI themselves (obviously). Chipotle now uses a chatbot to handle screening and scheduling, reportedly cutting hiring time by 75%. Other platforms are deploying video interviews scored by AI, plus gamified assessments to test memory and pattern recognition.

But it gets more complicated: Candidates are using AI to cheat those tests, too. Some even fake identities, prompting the DOJ to investigate remote hiring fraud. Gartner predicts that 1 in 4 job applicants could be fake by 2028.

So we now have AI writing resumes. AI reviewing them. AI running interviews. And AI trying to outsmart other AIs.

This is not just inefficiency, it’s erosion. Erosion of trust in the process. Erosion of time and focus. Erosion of what good hiring is supposed to do: uncover signal, not just automate noise.

The way forward isn’t to abandon AI. It’s to use it intentionally. To equip, not replace.

The goal is not to move faster at all costs. It’s to build systems that are:

• Fast and fair.
• Structured and human.
• Transparent and explainable.

What’s needed now is a credibility reset in hiring. Tools that don’t replace judgment, but equip it.

🔍 Signal of the week

📈 AI resume volume explodes: LinkedIn reports a 45% increase in applications, with over 11,000 submitted every minute. Recruiters report being overwhelmed, unable to sort real interest from robotic spam. Read the NYT coverage →

🕵️ Identity fraud rising: DOJ investigations confirm fake candidates in remote IT roles. Some used spoofed video setups and VPNs to pass as U.S.-based. Gartner warns that 25% of job applicants could be fake by 2028. More from OpenAI’s threat report →

✍️ What we're seeing

We’ve heard this from multiple teams: they want automation, but not at the cost of control. AI that “scores” candidates without transparency often gets ignored. What’s working better: tools that showwhya candidate scored a certain way, not just the score itself.

On the flip side, candidates tell us they’re applying to 30+ roles a week just to get noticed. Many are using AI out of frustration, not laziness. The teams getting better response rates are the ones who signal clarity and intent in their outreach, not just speed.

🔮 The hiring shift: 3 practical filters

As fake resumes and automation surge, here’s a simple lens to rebuild signal:

Intent > Keywords:Screen forwhy this role, why now. AI can fake formatting, but it struggles with motivation.

Cross-check early signals:Use tools that cross-check data to validate credibility before spending recruiter time. Even simple consistency checks can flag issues early.

Structured review > Gut feel: Don’t rely on gut feel or resume buzzwords. Define what good looks like, then use simple tasks, questions or fit-for-purpose AI tools to check for it.

Hiring needs less speed and more clarity. These shifts help deliver both 👇

About Vouch – your hiring assistant

Vouch is your AI-native hiring assistant. We’re rebuilding how modern teams hire by combining smart automation, network signals, and clear workflows to help you attract, shortlist, and close the right candidates faster. Everything you'd expect from an ATS is included, but the value is in how it's used. Learn more here.