83% of Aussie companies received AI-generated résumés containing false info

A new report has highlighted candidate over-reliance on AI, as an overwhelming amount has contained false information.

Remote’s 2024 Global Workforce Report has shined a spotlight on an increasingly significant problem for recruiters. The rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) is flooding into the recruitment space by way of job candidates solely relying on the technology to fill out their résumés.

According to the report, 83 per cent of Aussie hiring leaders say that they have received AI-created résumés that have false information, with 32 per cent citing it as a frequent occurrence. The frequency of these AI-filled résumés is reportedly leading to under-qualified employees entering organisations.

The report stated that more than five in 10 companies (54 per cent) agree with this notion, with 64 per cent claiming that it poses a significant issue for their business – and over one-quarter (25.6 per cent) saying it is a very significant issue.

Although this issue is seriously impacting Aussie organisations, it’s a global issue. The report cited that Australia is, in fact, experiencing the highest incidence of these résumés, yet Germany is facing an 83 per cent rate, followed by the US at 71 per cent.

Anastasia Pshegodskaya, director of talent acquisition at Remote, said: “Two years since generative AI hit the mainstream, we’re seeing an increasing number of applicants using AI not only to enhance their résumés but also to support them during the interview process.”

“In turn, businesses are relying on AI as well to manage the thousands of applications they sometimes receive for a single role and to streamline the overall hiring process.”

In terms of what organisations these façade résumés are affecting, companies with remote workforces are leading at 82 per cent, followed by hybrid workforces (71 per cent) or those with teams who are office-based (71 per cent).

The report also highlighted that the larger the company is, the more likely it is to receive a higher percentage of AI-generated résumés. Only 56 per cent of companies with between 10 and 50 employees cited this as an issue compared to 83 per cent of companies with between 500 and 1,000 employees.

Organisations with a reputation for recruiting outside of their local areas are reported to receive far more fake and automated résumés than those who seek to source their employees from the local population.