Half of workers will apply for new jobs in 2024, majority will use AI-generated resume

As the mainstream use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues, many workers are leveraging the tool to create job application materials.

In November, ResumeTemplates.com surveyed 800 American workers to understand how many workers plan to seek out new opportunities in the new year and how many will use AI to apply for new jobs.

Key findings:

• 35% of workers say they are likely to quit their job next year
• 55% of workers say they will likely apply for a new job
• Of this group, 66% will apply to jobs with a resume created by AI
• More than one-third of job seekers will exaggerate their ability to use AI on their resume
• 16% of workers have gotten a job in the past using a resume created by AI

35% of workers say they are likely to quit next year

Thirty-five percent of American workers say they are very likely (12%) or likely (23%) to quit their job next year.

A higher percentage, 55%, say they will very likely (25%) or likely (30%) apply to a new job next year.

The top reasons workers plan to look for a new job include wanting a better salary (68%), better work-life balance (51%), and better benefits (45%).  Additional reasons include wanting different responsibilities (24%) and a different work location (18%).

ResumeTemplates’ Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach Andrew Stoner points to the pandemic and subsequent “Great Resignation ” as reasons we have witnessed historically high turnover in the workforce.

“These macroeconomic and macro-environment drivers have combined to produce a very tight labor market. Additionally, workers are now able to pursue an exponentially greater number of new opportunities with many positions becoming remote or at least hybrid,” says Stoner.

“Salary has always been a top reason for employees seeking new opportunities. Work-life balance has also received more attention than ever as both employees and employers cope with the new post-COVID normal. Moreover, employee benefits can signal an employer’s commitment to both the physical and financial well-being of their workers. However, the impact of high inflation (on employees) and the tight labor market (on employers) cannot be overstated in creating the current “grass is always greener” scenario,” continues Stoner.

Two-thirds of job seekers will apply with AI-generated resume

Two-thirds of workers who say they will apply to jobs next year are very likely (27%) or likely (39%) to apply with a resume created by AI. Additionally, 62% say they are likely to use AI to create their cover letter.

Many workers also will list AI as a skill they have on their resume. More than half (55%) say they are very likely (24%) or likely (31%) to have AI as a skill on their resume.

However, hiring managers should be aware that a majority of job seekers who are listing AI on their resume (57%) say they are likely to exaggerate their ability to use the technology.

“AI can be a powerful tool in aligning your experience to a job description and improving readability. However, it’s important to be aware that AI can fall short in correctly describing your unique organization, role, and set of experiences. It’s critical to read over and make manual edits to content produced by AI. You should also be careful of AI exaggerating any experience on your resume as I anticipate employers increasing their level of scrutiny going forward,” says Stoner.

1 in 6 workers have been hired with an AI resume

A number of workers have already used AI to generate job application materials. Twenty-six percent say they have used AI to write a resume, and 24% have used it to write a cover letter.

Overall, 95% say AI allowed them to create a better resume than they otherwise could have.

However, nearly all (92%) say they made manual edits to the AI-generated resume and 85% to the cover letter.

Of those who actually applied to jobs using AI-generated application materials, 73% (or 16% of the total sample) say they got a job.

Methodology

ResumeTemplates conducted this survey on November 9, 2023, using SurveyMonkey. Respondents, collected using the SurveyMonkey Audience, consisted of a national sample of 800 employed Americans representative of the U.S. population by age, gender, and income.

Learn more about SurveyMonkey Audience. For additional information, you can contact [email protected].