'I've had to Botox my CV': Are AI recruitment tools affecting women's careers?

The use of AI recruitment tools has left many women in the workforce feeling surplus to requirements, according to a recent BBC investigation. Stacey Duguid, a 52-year-old corporate veteran, sent over 16,000 CVs over a 16-month period with little to no response. Frustrated, she turned to social media to ask if other women her age were facing similar struggles.

The response was overwhelming, with thousands of women reporting the same problem. Duguid believes AI-powered recruitment tools could be contributing to gendered ageism in the job market, as they may not recognize the skills and experience of mid-life women. She has "Botoxed" her CV by removing age and experience references, hoping to bypass automated filters.

Similar experiences have been reported by over 60 women aged 40 to 65 across various industries. Many have decades of senior-level experience but are facing relentless rejections or no response at all. Koeyli Jaluka, a 49-year-old manufacturing executive, has applied for 442 jobs and only received a few responses. She believes AI screening and hiring criteria are filtering out experienced women due to budget cuts and narrow hiring requirements.

Anna Cowie, a 52-year-old advertising veteran, has been unemployed for nearly four years despite a 30-year career in the industry. She attributes her joblessness to AI tools and the narrow hiring criteria. Both women have turned to volunteering and networking for job prospects, finding those approaches more effective than automated systems.

The City of London Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce has raised concerns about AI's impact on women in the financial and professional services sector. Chair Caroline Haines highlighted the taskforce's research, which found significant concern that AI screening tools do not recognize the skills of experienced women. The taskforce estimates AI and automation could displace hundreds of thousands of women's jobs by 2035, resulting in over £750 million in severance costs if firms do not invest in retraining.

Laura Holden, an AI lawyer, warns that companies often do not understand how AI tools work, leading to potential bias and unfair decisions. She advocates for mandatory testing and stronger regulation of AI recruitment tools before they are widely deployed.