![\"Millie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768977549_566_8d5bf4acf26d592a0bbabe428c4744c673c70ac0.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
January 21, 2026 \u2014 4:04pm<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Employers are being swamped by \u201cmachine gun\u201d job applications as job-seekers increasingly turn to AI to write cover letters or CVs, prompting warnings that applicants relying too heavily on the technology risk wasting their time.<\/p>\n Zoe Sullivan, head of people and culture at labour hire organisation Co-Op Group, says there has been a surge in the volume of job applications because of AI, mainly across white-collar roles.<\/p>\n \u201cSome applicants are using AI to polish their CVs, but many are using it to falsely present themselves,\u201d she says. \u201cThat means the manual side of the process for recruiters has become huge.\u201d<\/p>\n Sullivan says a recent case manager opening, which would have only had about 10 to 20 applicants before the uptake of AI, received nearly 100 applicants. \u201cThat was really hard,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was very difficult to discriminate between what experience people have and what they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Joel Delmaire, chief strategy and product officer at AI recruitment software firm JobAdder, says his firm has seen a 42 per cent increase in the volume of job applications over the past year.<\/p>\n \u201cCandidates can now prepare applications much faster, but we see two behaviours which are quite different,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Delmaire labels one of these behaviours the \u201cmachine gun application\u201d where candidates \u201cspam\u201d their resumes to a wide range of potential employers, generating hundreds of versions using AI in the hopes of getting noticed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other behaviour is tailoring resumes, and using AI as a guide to help you prepare for a job that you\u2019re a really good match for,\u201d he says. \u201cThat one is more likely to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n David Holland, managing director of talent solutions at employment software firm Employment Hero, says it has become easier for candidates to apply through traditional job boards using an AI-driven cover letter and CV tailored to cover the keywords in job descriptions, but that employers are also seeing an increase in \u201cirrelevant applications.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Holland says candidates who rely too heavily on AI, using it to draft whole cover letters or optimise their CVs, end up wasting time.<\/p>\n \u201cAny talent acquisition person today will explain that they have experiences where, on paper, someone is scoring 90 or 95 based on a technical review of their application, but it just doesn\u2019t come through in the interviews and the disparity is stark,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not doing yourself any favours by qualifying for the interview stage for roles that you just are not qualified to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean Connelly, director and founder at recruitment agency Latte, says AI allows candidates to produce tailored cover letter in a fraction of the time, but that job applicants still need to be able to articulate their own views. \u201cIf you can\u2019t bring an AI-generated brief to life with your own perspective, you haven\u2019t saved time, you\u2019ve just automated your own rejection,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In response to the surge in AI job applications, businesses are also using the technology. Australian HR Institute chief executive Sarah McCann Bartlett says that businesses are increasingly using AI to sift through CVs and cover letters after experiencing an \u201cextremely high\u201d volume of applications.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does make the screening process extremely onerous for employers, hence the increasing use of AI for screening,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Companies such as buy now, pay later firm Zip actively encourage the use of AI<\/a> throughout some parts of their recruitment process, saying they see AI as a core skill for the future while blue-chip consultancy McKinsey has asked graduate applicants to collaborate with an artificial intelligence tool<\/a> as part of its recruitment process.<\/p>\n Holland says he is confident that 90 per cent of medium and large businesses in Australia are already adopting AI in their hiring processes, with the exception of some bricks-and-mortar businesses in retail and hospitality which still tend to rely more heavily on walk-ins.<\/p>\n \u201c[Using AI] can free up time for hirers to spend on the pointy end of the hiring process which is really getting to understand who the person is, what they genuinely bring to the role,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Delmaire says more than 80 per cent of the businesses that JobAdder has surveyed have indicated they use AI in their hiring process, up from 69 per cent last year.<\/p>\n Bunnings is one example of a major employer that uses an AI interview platform during the early stages of its recruitment.This process includes an online questionnaire with five behaviour-based questions, which the hardware giant says is \u201csimilar to a phone interview with a recruiter\u201d but \u201ccompletely unbiased\u201d because it focuses only on the answers which are then compared to what the company is looking for.<\/p>\n However, the Bunnings spokesperson says the recruitment team is responsible for reviewing applications, conducting in-person interviews and \u201cmaking all decisions throughout the hiring process.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article While AI is being used widely in the initial stages of recruitment, Delmaire says AI-led interviews are unlikely to take off.<\/p>\n \u201cMy conviction is that, especially in the recruitment and HR space, human contact is so valuable,\u201d he says. \u201cIs AI ever going to become as smart as a human for this kind of highly personal relationship? I don\u2019t see the signs of that at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Get workplace news, advice and perspectives to help make your job work for you. Sign up for our weekly Thank God it\u2019s Monday newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Zoe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/23a599c88d8916f2a5eef1288d89207965294b14.jpeg\")
Zoe Sullivan, head of people and culture at The Co-Group, says AI has helped drive a surge in job applications.Max Mason-Hubers<\/p>\n![\"Want](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768977550_203_413ada41f6335fad7d3d55c1587a188b5642e1b7.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Bunnings](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fb293217b7d978e17b8a8ac0201bac787c430aeb.jpeg\")
Bunnings is using AI in the early stages of its recruitment.Brent Lewin <\/p>\n![\"KPMG](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/629cf4762b84f816893e9d81d36cf946a44019fe.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Millie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8d5bf4acf26d592a0bbabe428c4744c673c70ac0.png\")
Millie Muroi<\/a> is the economics writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She was formerly an economics correspondent based in Canberra\u2019s Press Gallery and the banking writer based in Sydney.Connect via Twitter<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners