AI-generated resumes are erasing the traditional differentiation that candidates once enjoyed. According to Nicholas Kirk, CEO of recruitment firm Michael Page, companies now struggle to select candidates from a flood of CVs that all look alike, making soft skills more valuable than ever. The London-based firm, which has operated in India for over a decade, reports that the volume of interviews has increased because corporates now mandate looking beyond CVs when shortlisting candidates.
The New Hiring Reality
Kirk stated, "Earlier CVs used to be unique but technology has changed that. Resumes are no longer a selling point. And that’s where the importance of going really deep into a person’s experience, behaviour and values. That’s where soft skills come in and is more important than ever." The implication for enterprise technology leaders is clear: the screening process must evolve beyond keyword matching.
“We might have interviewed 300 candidates to get the short-list of three. That’s the hard work that goes into what we do,” Kirk said.
This 100:1 ratio from initial pool to final shortlist highlights the inefficiency that AI-generated resumes have introduced. For companies deploying AI-driven recruitment tools, the flattening effect of applicant-side AI creates a new arms race — requiring deeper behavioural assessments rather than faster resume parsing.
AI Layoffs: Reality or Excuse?
Kirk noted that many companies use AI as a cushion to justify job cuts, since having spent billions on AI, they need to show returns to investors. "Do I think there have been layoffs as a result of AI…sure they have. I just think there’s plenty of others that have nothing to do with AI but business performance. Organisations are having to be more cost efficient because their businesses haven’t been performing the way they should and in many cases, it is quite easy to point a finger and say it is an AI transformation," he said. For CTOs and digital officers, this distinction is critical when planning workforce reductions and communicating them to stakeholders.
India Market: Manufacturing Slowdown
The global job market has experienced a slowdown due to the war, with hiring processes taking longer, though no mass freeze or collapse comparable to the dot-com bubble burst or 2008 financial crisis has occurred, according to Kirk. In India, the impact has been more pronounced in manufacturing. Nilay Khandelwal, senior MD, India and Singapore at Michael Page, said: "There we have not only seen a slowdown in the hiring process but also jobs being put on hold till we see clarity because some of the jobs are senior in nature." This pause in senior manufacturing roles directly affects supply chain and logistics leaders who rely on experienced hires to navigate trade disruptions.
Implications for Enterprise Technology Buyers
For technology procurement leaders, the trend underscores the need to invest in recruitment tech that assesses soft skills — behavioural interviewing platforms, sentiment analysis, and simulation tools — rather than just parsing AI-generated CVs. Similarly, logistics tech investors should monitor how workforce shifts in manufacturing affect demand for automation and visibility platforms. The message from Kirk is clear: in an age of AI overload, the human element of hiring regains strategic importance.
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