Recruiter Julie Reed has described the current employment market as the “strangest” she has ever seen, citing a widening gap between employer expectations and candidate realities.
In a candid LinkedIn post, Reed highlighted that many companies are seeking “rainbow-colored unicorns” — candidates from elite universities or high-profile firms — even when their own organizations lack the brand appeal or resources to attract such talent.
“This is the strangest employment market I have ever recruited in. The mismatch between expectations and qualifications is an enormous gap. Employers looking for rainbow colored unicorns based on specific companies or universities when their company doesn’t have the reputation, funding, or excitement to pull those candidates. Job hugging is real folks,” she wrote.
On the other side, Reed said many job seekers marked as “Open to Work” aren’t putting in minimal effort, such as reading job descriptions, showing up for calls, or replying to emails.
At the same time, qualified and diligent candidates struggle to get hired simply because they lack elite credentials or have limited contract experience. Tight on-site work requirements, she added, are further shrinking the available talent pool.
“The runway is closing on both sides,” Reed wrote, calling the situation “freaking exhausting” as she continues trying to connect employers and job seekers in an increasingly strained market.
The post went viral in no time, with netizens mostly agreeing with her take. Some users also said that companies are completely unserious about hiring at this moment.
“The job market is even crazier when the same job gets reposted month after month with 7 rounds of interviews as well,” a user wrote.
“Candidates aren’t taking you or hiring seriously because it’s been proven time and time again that companies are wholly unserious about hiring. And retaining. And competitive pay and benefits. And training. And culture. And… we all get the idea, I suppose. This feels like the natural sequence of events as a consequence of what corporatism has prioritised. Maybe the shareholders and private equity firms can show up to do the work to keep the lights on?” a second user said.
“My last two interviews both turned out to be with automated systems. Real companies, but I don’t believe they were actually hiring. They seem to just be training their AI interview programs,” a third user said.
“Just think about how exhausting it is to be unemployed… to be passed over again and again for jobs you are eminently qualified for. I promise you that it’s worse,” another user commented.