The Chase for the Wrong Jobs

It’s a paradox of the current labor market that the jobs companies most desperately need to fill are the least sought after, while the roles people want most are being eliminated or left vacant.

Last year, according to a new study, white collar jobs attracted twice the number of applicants per opening compared to the average rate of for all applicants per job. Technology, business, finance, and management roles were among the most applied for despite—or perhaps because of—being among the hardest hit by cutbacks and AI transformation. At the opposite end of the spectrum, jobs in perpetually understaffed industries like healthcare, education, and hospitality generated the least interest from job seekers. Job postings across all categories tracked by the study overall were up 4% in 2025 and applicants increased by 6%. But, reflecting the difficulty people are having finding jobs generally, hiring overall decreased 1%.

Korn Ferry senior client partner Ben Frost says the data underscores a major structural shift in the labor market that is likely to get wider as 2026 unfolds. “Jobs that can’t be automated away are growing,” he says, “but the ones people are applying for aren’t hiring because leaders are waiting to see if they can be automated away.” For example, finance jobs in 2026 are being disrupted by AI, so firms aren’t rushing to fill those positions until they figure out what those roles will look like in the future. At the same time, roles less vulnerable to automation in service-related industries, like hospitality, that are urgently hiring attracted some of the lowest interest among job seekers, according to the report. “Many white-collar applicants are holding onto the hope that they will be the unicorn that gets the job no one else will,” says Frost.

And if it’s not hope, it may be just frustration, says David Ellis, senior vice president of talent transformation at Korn Ferry. “People feel like they are fighting a losing battle,” says Ellis, pointing to the highly skilled, highly experienced clients he deals with everyday who over the last few years have also been chronically out of work. “They aren’t sure what to do next,” he says. That frustration, coupled with the ability of AI to quickly tailor résumés, cover letters, and social media profiles is prompting job seekers to apply for any job they see. The result is a vicious cycle where more and more people are applying for jobs that are less and less likely to be filled.

The study, done by iCMS, an application tracking firm, highlights the gap between where firms are heading and where people are applying. The tech sector topped the popularity list, with 65 applicants per opening, compared to the average number of 34 applicants across all roles. Business and finance operations jobs generated 62 applicants per opening, while management roles attracted 51 candidates for each open position. Yet last year the financial sector cut nearly 50,000 jobs and companies across industries shed hundreds of thousands of managers. Meanwhile, healthcare and education, which added 33,000 jobs in November alone, only attracted 25 and 18 candidates per opening, respectively.  

To be sure, firms are only in the beginning of transforming their workforces and changing roles to adapt to AI disruption. “While a big volume of hiring might not be on deck, firms are still looking for talent,” says Renee Whalen, a senior client partner and market leader for professional search at Korn Ferry. Or, as Frost says about the hiring environment for white-collar workers, “It’s going to get even more hypercompetitive, and a lot of job seekers are going to be chasing their tails.”

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