AI has led some employers like L'Oréal to return to in-person assessments during recruiting, as senior HR leaders see a steep rise in AI-generated applications
Employers wading through job applications are returning to in-person and practical assessments
Context & Ripple Effects
Employers have already been caught in an AI-enabled application arms race: candidates use generative tools to accelerate submissions while recruiters add more screening steps. Coverage of AI-generated résumés overwhelming recruiting teams showed employers responding with automated screening and video tools; this report shows a parallel return to human-observed assessment.
The shift also follows reports that AI has made interviews more demanding through tests and assignments, while some large employers restored face-to-face interviews to address AI-assisted cheating. L'Oréal's move makes practical, in-person evaluation a more prominent counterweight to remote, text-based hiring signals.
First-order effects
- L'Oréal and similarly affected employers must devote more recruiter, manager, and candidate time to in-person or practical assessments rather than relying chiefly on application materials.
- Applicants who use AI to draft résumés or applications face a higher bar to demonstrate skills live, where polished written submissions carry less weight.
Second-order effects
- Recruiting workflows are likely to split: AI tools can still process high application volumes, but later-stage selection shifts toward supervised exercises and interviews, extending the pattern in more test-heavy interview processes.
- Employers competing for candidates will have to balance stronger verification against additional friction and the risk that longer hiring processes deter applicants.
Third-order effects
- If AI-generated applications remain widespread, hiring may increasingly treat remote written materials as a low-trust signal and reserve decisive evaluation for observable work or live interaction.
- The broader market could move from an automation-versus-automation cycle toward hybrid hiring systems: automated triage at scale, paired with human-controlled validation for consequential decisions.
The trend: Generative AI is eroding the evidentiary value of conventional job applications, pushing employers toward verification-heavy, hybrid recruitment processes.