A double standard is emerging in UK workplaces: employers discourage job candidates from using AI to write their applications, but the vast majority expect employees to use the technology once hired.
This tension between employers' pursuit of AI-driven productivity and demand for human authenticity was highlighted in a recent BCG survey of 250 UK business leaders on workplace AI attitudes.
It revealed that while 66% of employers find it "easy" to detect when AI has been used in applications, 75% say that candidates using AI has made it harder and more time-consuming to identify the best people for the role.
BCG found that 69% of bosses even prefer applications with minor mistakes, such as spelling and grammar errors, to reassure them that they were written without AI.
It comes as three-quarters of UK bosses of medium to large companies say they have received more job applications since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 — with 63% now spending more time reviewing applications than before the use of AI tools became widespread.
Here's the paradox: although only 14% of business leaders encourage candidates to use AI in job applications, 91% encourage or require employees to use it once hired — with 55% of bosses requiring new joiners to use AI daily.
Finding balance will be front of mind for companies now solving the AI adoption gap, with separate BCG research finding that only 51% of frontline employees use GenAI several times a week or daily versus 85% of business leaders.
Christin Owings, Managing Director and Partner at BCG, commented:
“It’s really telling that employers are now looking for human markers such as small spelling or grammar mistakes as proof that there’s a person behind an application. What might have looked like a flaw previously has become a sign of authenticity in the age of AI.
“However, there’s a growing paradox: companies want to see the human behind the application but, once that person is hired, they expect them to fully embrace AI in how they work. Organisations are hiring for authenticity but rewarding mastery of technology. Finding the right balance between being unmistakably human and productively AI-enabled will define what good looks like in the workforce of the future.”