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

The fear of AI replacing workers is a shared concern among millions, but are these recruitment tools disproportionately affecting women trying to re-enter the workforce? Stacey Duguid, a 52-year-old with a decades-long career in fashion, faced 16 months of sending countless CVs without any replies. Frustrated and feeling isolated, she shared her experience on social media, discovering that thousands of women of similar age were facing the same challenges.

Stacey believes AI-powered recruitment tools could be exacerbating the issue and has begun "botting" her CV by removing references to her age and experience.

Stacey is not alone in her concerns. BBC contacted over 60 women aged between 40 and 65 from various industries, all of whom have decades of experience but are struggling to find work. Many have applied for hundreds of positions and received only automated rejections or no response. Koeyli Jaluka, a 49-year-old with senior roles in manufacturing, corporate, and healthcare, stated that she has never encountered such difficulties before.

After nine months of applying for 442 jobs, she has received responses in only a few cases and believes her age is being unfairly targeted. Like Stacey, she attributes the problem to tighter budgets, AI screening, and narrow hiring criteria.

Anna Cowie, another 52-year-old advertising professional with a 30-year career, has been unemployed for nearly four years. She has sent countless CVs but has lost count of how many she has submitted. After decades of working for prominent brands, she is now on jobseeker's allowance and has turned to volunteering as a more promising approach. Anna has found that networking with real people is more effective than submitting CVs to AI-driven systems.

While it's unclear in many cases whether AI tools contributed to specific rejections or screenings, there is a growing fear that AI recruitment tools are disadvantaging mid-life women. The City of London Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce, which focuses on women in finance and professional services, has expressed concerns about AI's role in the recruitment process.

Chair Caroline Haines noted that AI screening systems often fail to recognize the skills of experienced women, potentially hindering economic growth. For example, women who took time off for childcare may encounter bias due to gaps in their CVs.

The taskforce estimates that AI and automation could displace hundreds of thousands of women's jobs by 2035, leading to significant economic repercussions. Without substantial investment in retraining, businesses could face severance costs exceeding £750 million. In a recent survey of over 1,000 women, 68% stated they had not received opportunities to retrain or transition into digital roles from their employers.

Laura Holden, an AI lawyer and founder of Bonsai AI and legal consultancy, warns that companies often lack understanding of how AI tools function, potentially leading to bias. She highlights the challenges in determining bias due to the global lack of regulation requiring providers to disclose their tool's workings. Holden argues for mandatory testing and regulation before deploying AI recruitment tools and encourages companies to view AI as a decision-support system rather than an automated decision-making mechanism.