quora question: Why do you think the number of applications per job has increased by 111% between 2022 and 2025, while the number of recruiters has fallen 56%?

The following is my response to a Quora question: Why do you think the number of application per job has increased by 111% between 2022 and 2025, while the number of recruiters has fallen 56%. 
MY RESPONSE: 
Short Answer:
In short, the impact of agentic AI integration into the hiring process. The increase of AI integration and mass application capabilities explains the increase of applications during that time. The continual decrease in recruiters is jointly the result of AI integration and the mass layoffs that followed the post-covid mass hiring wars of 2021 and early 2022. Recruiters unfortunately was a part of the fallout.
Longer Explanation:
The origin of the comment was from the CEO of Indeed. From my perspective, I agree with the Indeed CEO that the implementation of agentic AI has affected the hiring process and is likely behind the statistics you reference. During the time period mentioned, there were many “AI tools” offered by diverse companies that allowed applicants to mass apply to hundreds of positions. The influx was devastating for recruiting teams who already struggled to manage increased volume. From a candidate perspective, the “AI tools” allowed them to feel empowered. Unfortunately, many just increased the number of rejection letters they received. From different perspectives, AI was the “magic bullet.”
I remember the “mass layoff” of recruiters during that time period, as senior leaders of companies went “all in” with AI. Remember, recruiters were also laid-off during COVID due to hiring freezes. In addition, tech companies in particular had hiring wars post covid as they built up their workforce. This included recruiting staff to handle increased hiring volume. In an attempt to right their post-covid mass hiring miscalculation, there was an influx of mass layoffs across industries which included recruiters. Unfortunately, current projections still show that companies will continue lean recruiting leveraging agentic AI.
Future Focus:
What does that mean for the hiring process as a whole? We already see the shift. AI is decidedly now the first and second step in the hiring process through Applicant Tracking Systems and automated screening interviews. As a result, candidates are dropping out of the process. Companies will be challenged to guarantee human intervention within the hiring process, likely offering an option for human review. We’re starting to see this now. Candidates will also be increasingly required to prove their expertise through skills-based pre-application assessments, hands-on interviews, etc. I do believe the numbers will start to stabilize as candidates start to realize high volume applications don’t work and companies become a lot more selective in their application process.
Hopefully not too long and that my insight is helpful. Hoping for your best! N-
Source of some future focused info: (Greenhouse benchmark report March 2026, Fortune, SHRM data ).
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About the author and Your Career Coach

Nanette Kirk is the President and CEO of NetKi Enterprises, LLC. We help clients navigate their career journey, through career coaching and consulting. Thank you for reading this blog post. Feel free to reach out if you have any leadership or career challenges, I can help you explore and resolve. You can click on the button below to schedule a discovery call. ​