The Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next

When Anthropic dropped Claude Design and OpenAI released Images 2.0, something shifted. The ability to create professional-grade visuals — the kind that used to require years of training and hard-won expertise — got handed to everyone.In this episode, Josh argues that AI isn't replacing creative experts. It's promoting them. The people with real taste, real vision, and the language to describe what they want are about to have a very good 12 to 18 months. After that, the tools catch up. And the only thing left that can't be automated is the ability to imagine something that doesn't exist yet. The new currency isn't who can use the tools best. It's who can see what hasn't been made.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

Most leaders are using AI to go faster. This skill is about going deeper.Coach Your People With Better AI is the first entry in The Sh*t List, the paid Substack companion to The Job Market Sh*t Show. It starts with a simple question: what if, before your next difficult one-on-one, you spent 15 minutes with an AI tool working through everything you actually know about that person?This one's built around a conversation with Kathrin Fleer, who spent 12 years leading luxury retail teams for Saint Laurent and Tiffany & Co across Europe. What she said about the ceiling every manager eventually hits — and where AI fits in — stuck with Josh.The full piece includes four specific prompts and a framework you can use before your next one-on-one. If you're not on The Sh*t List yet, this is a good week to start.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. The Sh*t List is a paid Substack for leaders who want to stay ahead of what AI is doing to the workplace — and actually do something about it. Every other week, subscribers get a new AI Manager Skill: one practical, field-tested move for leading your team better in an AI world.

Job descriptions are supposed to clarify what a company needs. But what if they’re just educated guesses? In this episode, Josh looks at how AI is quietly breaking one of the most fundamental parts of hiring: defining the role itself. Drawing on stories from job seekers and hiring managers, he explores why candidates are getting rejected for jobs they already had interviews scheduled for, how roles are being rewritten mid-process, and why companies often don’t actually know what they’re looking for. AI may be speeding up job descriptions and postings, but it’s also removing the friction that once forced better thinking. The result is a system where confusion gets scaled, candidates absorb the cost, and hiring becomes a loop of trial and error—without anyone admitting that the job was never clearly defined in the first place.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

AI is supposed to help people get jobs. But what if it’s making it harder to tell who’s real? In this episode, Josh looks at how AI is creeping beyond résumés and into interviews—and even the work itself. Drawing on stories of impersonated candidates, AI-assisted cheating in technical interviews, and coordinated efforts to land remote jobs at scale, he explores how trust is breaking down across the hiring process. As companies respond with surveillance, in-person interviews, and increasingly strange screening tactics, the system starts to feel like an arms race with no clear winner. AI may be improving access and efficiency, but it’s also eroding the one thing hiring depends on most: knowing who you’re actually hiring.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

Job titles used to tell you what a job was. Now they often raise more questions than answers. In this episode, host Josh Levine looks at the rise of strange, sprawling, and sometimes absurd job titles—and what they reveal about how quickly work is changing. Drawing on conversations with job seekers, coaches, and operators inside companies, he explores why organizations often don’t actually know what they’re hiring for, how AI and rapid change are reshaping roles faster than systems can keep up, and why candidates are being filtered for jobs that aren’t clearly defined. The bigger shift isn’t just in titles—it’s in identity. As roles become fluid and expectations blur, the people who move forward may be the ones willing to redefine themselves before the market does it for them.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

AI is supposed to reduce work. But what if it just gives us more of it? In this episode, Josh looks at what actually happens when AI hits the org chart—inside real companies, not predictions. Drawing on recent layoffs, historical patterns like ATMs and spreadsheets, and firsthand stories from teams already deep into AI adoption, he explores why automation rarely shrinks work the way we expect. Instead, it often expands it—more output, more tasks, more complexity. AI may make individual jobs easier, but without rethinking how work is organized, companies risk doing more of the same work… just faster and at a larger scale.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

AI gets blamed for a lot right now—layoffs, hiring freezes, disappearing entry-level roles. But what if it’s not the whole story? In this episode, Josh looks at the strange “low hire, low fire” job market where companies aren’t hiring much, but they aren’t laying people off en masse either. Drawing on labor data, conversations with business leaders, and a few high-profile layoffs framed as “AI transformations,” he explores why uncertainty—from tariffs to geopolitics to post-pandemic overhiring—has companies hedging instead of committing to new headcount. AI may be part of the picture, but it’s also becoming a convenient narrative for decisions that might have happened anyway.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

Is it who you know? How people are and aren't landing interviews.Applying to hundreds of jobs feels like progress—but it might just be noise. In this episode, Josh looks at the two strategies job seekers are using right now: scale and signal. Some people are flooding the system with applications, hoping one slips through. Others are doing the opposite—only applying when they can get a human introduction inside the company. Through conversations with job seekers who’ve tried both approaches, Josh explores why referrals seem to matter more than ever, why charm alone isn’t enough in this market, and what happens when the only way to stand out is to prove you’re not a bot.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

AI used to promise better work. Now it’s starting to promise no work at all. In this episode, Josh unpacks a deceptively cheerful Grammarly ad that suggests AI can handle your tasks so you can “get back to what matters.” Cute on the surface. Slightly terrifying underneath. He connects the dots to a viral essay arguing that AI is already replacing large chunks of knowledge work—from coding to law—and asks what happens when the tools don’t just assist us, but quietly outperform us. If AI can do the job, are we being freed… or phased out? And if the future belongs to those who know how to orchestrate machines, what does that mean for everyone else?About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

Job searching used to feel like a transaction: effort in, opportunity out. Now it often feels like shouting into a void. In this episode, Josh argues that hiring isn’t just dysfunctional—it’s starting to resemble a classic market failure, where companies absorb almost no cost for bad behavior while candidates absorb all of it. He breaks down how ghost jobs, opaque AI screening, and endless silence create a system built on information asymmetry and misaligned incentives. And then, a rare twist: Ontario, Canada introduces a new law that forces employers to disclose salary ranges, admit when AI is used, confirm whether a job is actually vacant, and stop ghosting candidates—or face serious fines. It’s a reminder that when the market won’t fix itself, something else has to.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

Work is starting to behave like a scarce resource—and companies are adjusting their metabolism accordingly. In this episode, Josh explores how AI, short-term incentives, and belt-tightening are accelerating the unbundling of jobs into fractional roles, contractors, and piecemeal tasks. What once looked like flexibility and “portfolio careers” is starting to resemble something else: an uberification of work where organizations can buy talent in slices, avoid long-term commitments, and offload risk onto individuals. Josh unpacks why this shift feels sudden, why it may be structural rather than temporary, and what it means when stability becomes a perk instead of the baseline.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

Applying for jobs used to mean competing with other people. Now, it often means competing with machines. In this episode, Josh looks at how AI has turned the job search into an arms race—where applicants experiment with prompt injection, keyword stuffing, and other tactics just to get a human to look at their résumé. He revisits Nathan, an AI researcher who’s tracked his response rates down to the percentage point, and explores why even small changes—like leaving in typos—can feel worth trying in a black-box system that offers no feedback. Along the way, Josh examines how “defensive cheating” is spreading, why recruiters are divided on whether these tactics are clever or deceitful, and what gets lost when hiring becomes a game of outsmarting bots instead of finding capable humans.About The Job Market Sh*t ShowThe Job Market Sh*t Show: How AI Broke Hiring and What Might Be Next is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, how AI and automation have upended the process, and why the old rules no longer apply. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that’s increasingly algorithmic, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it—while asking what, if anything, might replace a system that no longer seems to work for humans on either side of the process.

Job postings used to mean something. Now? They might just be corporate fan fiction. In this episode, Josh digs into ghost jobs—roles that look real but never get filled. He unpacks the story of a product manager who applied with a referral and still never got seen, and talks with a career coach who’s helped hundreds navigate the same dead ends. Whether it’s PR spin, bench-building, or future-proofing a hiring freeze, these jobs waste more than time—they drain hope. And while we can’t stop companies from posting them, we can learn how to spot them sooner.About The Job Market Sh*t Show:The Job Market Sh*t Show is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, why the old rules no longer apply, and what’s quietly taking their place. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that feels increasingly automated, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it.

Applying online feels like shouting into the void—and that’s because, more often than not, your first interviewer is a robot. In this episode, Josh breaks down the rise of AI in hiring: how automation is reshaping resume screening, where bias creeps in, and why so many qualified candidates are ghosted by systems that were built for efficiency, not fairness. Plus, why networking—not keyword cramming—might be your best bet for getting seen.About The Job Market Sh*t Show:The Job Market Sh*t Show is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, why the old rules no longer apply, and what’s quietly taking their place. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that feels increasingly automated, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it.

LinkedIn is noisy, frustrating, and often feels like a job search dead end—so why are we still using it? In this episode, Josh unpacks the tension we all feel about the platform, exploring what still works (profiles, networks, discovery) and what definitely doesn’t (spam, false leads, and the chaos of too much noise). Plus, a glimpse into how job seekers are starting to reclaim control—one Slack or Discord community at a time.About The Job Market Sh*t Show:The Job Market Sh*t Show is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, why the old rules no longer apply, and what’s quietly taking their place. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that feels increasingly automated, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it.

The job market’s broken, and it starts with volume. In this episode, we look at how applying for jobs turned into a numbers game—fueled by one-click applications, AI bots, and overwhelmed recruiters. Featuring the story of Nathan S., an AI researcher rethinking what “fit” even means, we dig into the applicant tsunami and ask: how do you stand out in a system built to ignore you?About The Job Market Sh*t Show:The Job Market Sh*t Show is an investigation into how hiring actually works now, why the old rules no longer apply, and what’s quietly taking their place. It blends reporting, analysis, and firsthand stories from inside a labor market that feels increasingly automated, opaque, and indifferent to the people moving through it.

Something’s off. People are applying to hundreds of jobs and walking away with nothing but ghosted inboxes and rejection emails. Companies say they’re hiring—but the job posts gather dust, recruiters disappear, and no one seems to know what the algorithm is doing.The Job Market Sht Show* is Josh Levine’s real-time investigation into what’s broken, who’s stuck, and what might actually help. If you’re looking for work, trying to hire, or just wondering why everything feels harder than it should—this is for you.Subscribe to The Job Market Sh*t Show wherever you get your podcasts and the Substack for updates.