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These days, it’s not unusual for job seekers to apply for dozens (or even hundreds) of jobs without getting an interview, rejection email, or any type of response whatsoever. In fact, according to data cited by Indeed in its new “Jobs Need People” campaign, 81% of job seekers say they’ve applied for positions and never received a response from the employer. Meanwhile, 45% aren’t even sure whether they’re qualified for many of the jobs they’re applying for. The result is a hiring process that often feels frustrating, impersonal, and increasingly disconnected from the people it’s supposed to serve.
This is essentially the backdrop behind Indeed’s campaign. On the surface it may look like a typical advertising effort, but the campaign could actually lead to major changes in how job seekers and employers connect.
Why Indeed Is Launching This Campaign Now
Over the past several years, the hiring process has become increasingly automated (and frustrating). Employers use ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems), AI-powered screening tools, automated assessments, and algorithmic ranking systems to manage overwhelming application volumes.
At the same time, job seekers have responded by using AI to write resumes, generate cover letters, optimize keywords, and submit applications at unprecedented scale. The result of all of this has become something of an arms race—candidates are using AI to get through employer filters, employers are using AI to manage application volume, and somewhere in the middle, many people may feel like they’ve lost the human element entirely.
Indeed’s campaign appears to be a direct response to this growing frustration. The company argues that hiring shouldn’t feel like endless searching and keyword matching. Instead, it wants to position itself as an AI-powered matching platform that helps the right employers and candidates find each other more effectively. According to Indeed, traditional keyword-based search now accounts for less than 30% of sponsored applications on its platform, while AI-driven tools continue to drive hiring activity.
The Problem Indeed Is Trying to Solve
What’s interesting here is that the campaign indirectly acknowledges a problem many job seekers have been discussing for years—the modern hiring process often seems…pretty broken.
According to Indeed, job seekers often spend several hours a day researching companies and applying for jobs, with more than half of those job seekers assuming they won’t even receive a single response. To make matters worse, job seekers are all but required to constantly tailor their resumes to include keywords if they even want a chance at getting past ATS. All of this results in an extremely frustrating and often demoralizing experience.
On the employers’ side, hiring managers receive thousands of resumes and are often overwhelmed by application volume, hence the apparent need for tools like ATS and AI.
Speaking of AI, the challenges surrounding job searching have become exaggerated in the age of AI. Employers use AI systems to help manage applications, which leads to candidates relying on keyword optimization rather than genuine authenticity, and candidates can now generate application materials faster than ever before, creating even larger applicant pools for employers to sort through.
What This Means for Job Seekers
Perhaps the most important aspect of Indeed’s campaign is the indication that hiring may be moving away from things like keyword optimization and toward more comprehensive candidate profiles, which is a very good thing.
For years, job seekers have been hearing about how to beat ATS by tailoring their resumes to specific keywords found in job descriptions. While that’s still important, Indeed may be starting a new trend where job search platforms emphasize skills, experience, certification, and career interests. This is incredible news for job seekers whose backgrounds don’t fit traditional career paths perfectly.
Indeed has publicly discussed AI tools designed to identify candidates who may be capable of succeeding in roles even if their resumes don’t match every requirement to a tee. The idea is to focus more on potential and transferable skills rather than rigid keyword alignment.
Now, all of this doesn’t mean that resumes will somehow become irrelevant. Instead, it means that job seekers may need to think more strategically about how they present their capabilities, accomplishments, and career goals across their entire professional profile.
The Human Element
It’s undeniable that AI has been dominating virtually every discussion when it comes to work (and everything else). Indeed’s campaign comes at the perfect time, since it’s instead emphasizing the message that people still matter in the age of AI.
According to Indeed’s leadership, AI can improve efficiency and help make better matches for job seekers and employers, but hiring is ultimately a human decision. Often, candidates bring skills, creativity, and potential that cannot be fully captured by a resume alone. For job seekers who are skeptical of automated hiring systems, this is huge.
It’s also worth mentioning that while AI is changing how companies recruit, evaluate, and manage talent, most employers are still looking for candidates with exceptional communication skills, adaptability, leadership potential, and problem solving ability.
At the end of the day, we’re looking at what can potentially be a huge shift in the way job seekers find work and how employers evaluate potential talent. We may never go back to the old days of physical job applications and classified ads looking for new talent (and maybe we shouldn’t anyway), but it seems we’re on track to return to authenticity and a far less frustrating job search experience.
Rob Porter is an editor at Vault.
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