Automation is everywhere, but it might be having the most-detrimental effects in hiring
Above is a chart of the Fed's survey of job openings in the JOLTS survey.
It's evidence to policymakers and many others that jobs are overwhelmingly plentiful in the United States. There are help-wanted signs everywhere, backing it up.
What that data doesn't show is a that companies have abandoned the human touch when it comes to human resources. Vox has a great story about how automated and standing job postings are an increasingly part of the landscape. In addition, resumes are increasingly scanned by algos that often filter out good candidates.
That's left us in a situation where companies spam the web with job postings and workers spam companies with resumes. Because the workload to sift through them all is so daunting, companies are forced to use algos and it becomes self-reinforcing.
Another interesting point is that the bulk of the jobs are for low-paying jobs. Up the ladder, higher workloads on employees and middle-management due to the pandemic have left even less time for jobs training.
It's a messy situation all around.
