Is an Algorithm Blocking Your Job Search? One Man Is Trying to Find Out.

Summary

The Journal: Is an Algorithm Blocking Your Job Search? One Man Is Trying to Find Out

Released August 14, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Journal, hosted by Annie Minoff and Lauren Weber, listeners delve into the intricate world of job searching in the digital age. The episode centers around Derek Mobley, a man whose persistent job rejections led him to suspect that automated algorithms were hindering his employment prospects. This suspicion propelled him into a legal battle against Workday, a major player in HR and recruiting software, potentially affecting millions of job seekers worldwide.

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Derek Mobley's Journey

Initial Employment and Layoff

The story begins with Derek Mobley, an IT professional who was passionate about his job, as Annie Minoff recounts:

"Derek was laid off in 2017. After that, he picked himself up and embarked on a common and frustrating experience—the modern job hunt."
[00:40] Annie Minoff

Derek shared his experience of applying to over 150 job opportunities without receiving a single callback:

"Really? None."
[00:59] Derek Mobley

The repeated rejections were both financially and emotionally taxing for Derek, pushing him to continue his search relentlessly for nine months.

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The Discovery of Automated Rejection

A turning point occurred when Derek received an email response at an unusual time:

"One day I was looking at my phone and I got an email. And it was at a very odd time of the day... That basically was the watershed moment."
[01:27] Derek Mobley

This odd timing led him to the unsettling realization that his applications were likely being processed by bots rather than human recruiters.

"This is definitely a bot."
[01:58] Lauren Weber

Derek began to suspect that algorithms were systematically filtering out his applications, sparking questions about the transparency and fairness of these automated systems.

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The Role of Algorithms in Modern Recruiting

Understanding Recruitment Algorithms

Lauren Weber explains the prevalence of artificial intelligence in recruitment:

"It is ubiquitous... we're talking about algorithms. The basic system is a simple keyword match."
[03:42] Lauren Weber

Applications are often filtered based on keyword matches related to the job description, with platforms like Workday being at the forefront.

Workday's Influence

Workday, a widely used HR and recruiting platform, categorizes applicants into four groups: strong, good, fair, or low match based on their application:

"We put them into these categories... we believe in ethical technology, ethical artificial intelligence."
[06:16] Lauren Weber

However, for users like Derek, the process feels impersonal and automated, lacking human interaction and feedback.

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Challenges Faced by Derek Mobley

Personal Factors Influencing Rejections

Derek pondered whether personal attributes such as his race, age, or disabilities were influencing the algorithm's decisions:

"I think it's a combination of things... disability, age, you know, race, for example."
[08:00] Derek Mobley

He even went as far as removing his graduation date from his resume in an attempt to mitigate potential age discrimination:

"I was trying to do the best I can to get a fair shake."
[09:04] Derek Mobley

Despite Workday's claims that their algorithms do not account for protected demographic information, Derek remained unconvinced and noticed a consistent pattern of rejections.

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Legal Action Against Workday

Filing the Lawsuit

Frustrated by the lack of responses and consistent rejections, Derek filed a lawsuit against Workday in 2023, alleging that their hiring algorithms discriminated against him based on age, race, and disability:

"My contention is that it's the platform that's part of the problem."
[10:51] Derek Mobley

Workday's Defense

Workday has staunchly defended their platform, stating:

"Derek's lawsuit is without merit... its recruiting tools don't make hiring decisions."
[11:17] Annie Minoff

The company seeks to have the case dismissed, arguing that hiring decisions remain the sole responsibility of their clients.

Legal Proceedings and Potential Class Action

A judge allowed Derek's case to proceed on the basis of age discrimination, leaving room for Derek to present his arguments based on disparate impact:

"It's the outcome that matters."
[12:04] Lauren Weber

If successful, this lawsuit could expand into a class action, potentially involving millions of individuals who applied for jobs through Workday's platform between 2020 and 2025.

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Impact and Public Reaction

Derek’s Personal Victory and Ongoing Battle

Despite the prolonged legal battle, Derek eventually secured employment in 2019 through traditional, human-driven recruitment methods:

"This really came through kind of the old fashioned way."
[14:50] Annie Minoff

His employment journey highlights the stark contrast between automated and personal hiring processes. While Derek has since thrived in his new role, his lawsuit against Workday continues, aiming to bring transparency and fairness to the job application process.

Public Support and Concerns

Lauren Weber reported significant public support for Derek, with many listeners expressing their own frustrations with automated hiring systems and considering joining the lawsuit:

"There are a lot of people out there who are convinced that the job market is not fair."
[17:17] Annie Minoff

This widespread concern underscores a growing distrust in algorithm-driven recruitment and a demand for more equitable hiring practices.

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Conclusion

Derek Mobley's pursuit of justice against Workday shines a light on the hidden algorithms that govern modern job searches. His case challenges the reliance on automated systems in hiring, advocating for greater accountability and transparency. As the legal proceedings continue, the outcome could reshape the future of recruitment, ensuring that every job seeker's application is evaluated fairly and without bias.

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Transcript

[Annie Minoff]

A few years ago, Derek Mobley was working in it. He loved his job so much, he told me he happily commuted an hour and a half each way to his office in Atlanta. But about a year into the job, Derek got called into a meeting.

[Derek Mobley]

Next thing I know, you know, they say, hey, it's time to lay some people off. And nothing personal, it's just your numbers come up. And it was just time for me to go.

[Lauren Weber]

And.

[Derek Mobley]

And that was probably the most difficult day that I could recall, like my adult life, because it was a job I really did love.

[Annie Minoff]

Derek was laid off in 2017. After that, he picked himself up and embarked on a common and frustrating experience. The modern job hunt. And how many applications would you say that you submitted?

[Derek Mobley]

You know, I know it was probably well over 150 opportunities that I've applied for.

[Annie Minoff]

How many callbacks did you get of those?

[Derek Mobley]

Really? None.

[Annie Minoff]

Wow.

[Derek Mobley]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Annie Minoff]

How did that feel?

[Derek Mobley]

Terrible. I mean, you know, financial stress, emotional stress. I just kept getting a lot of no's. It was just rejection after rejection after rejection.

[Annie Minoff]

It was demoralizing. But Derek kept at it, sending out application after application for nine months. At that point, he noticed something.

[Derek Mobley]

One day I was looking at my phone and I got an email. And it was at a very odd time of the day. It was like 1:30 in the morning. And it was like on a weekend. And it was like, okay, Sunday went there. Like, who's actually looking at my resume on my application at that time of day and that time of the weekend? That basically was the watershed moment. Getting that email at a weird time in the morning. And I started thinking, this is not a human.

[Annie Minoff]

This is a bottle.

[Derek Mobley]

Yeah, this is definitely a bot.

[Lauren Weber]

A bot.

[Annie Minoff]

Derek realized that an algorithm could be playing a big role in all those rejections he was getting. And that realization raised a lot of questions for him. Just what were those algorithms doing exactly? And why couldn't he seem to catch a break? Those questions would eventually take Derek all the way to court in a lawsuit that could potentially impact millions of job seekers. Welcome to the Journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Annie Minoff. It's Thursday, August 14th. Coming up on the show, one man's journey to find out if algorithms got in the way of his job search. Every year, Americans looking for work fill out millions of job applications. And our colleague Lauren Weber says that nearly all of them get submitted online.

[Lauren Weber]

Even if you walk into a store these days looking for an hourly job. I recently went through this with my 17 year old son. You can't fill out a paper application anymore. You get told to go to the website and fill out the application online.

[Annie Minoff]

These days, being online often means having to interact with artificial intelligence in one way or another. Lauren says the job hunt is no exception. Lauren, how common is it for employers to use some kind of AI in recruiting?

[Lauren Weber]

It is ubiquitous, and we use artificial intelligence now very broadly. But in this situation, not Talking about generative AI like ChatGPT, we're talking about algorithms. The basic system is a simple keyword match.

[Annie Minoff]

Say you're applying to a job in digital marketing. The software will look for the words digital and marketing and for synonyms of those words.

[Lauren Weber]

And they're going to score and sort applications based on how well a person's application fits with the, you know, words that are in the job description.

[Annie Minoff]

One of the biggest platforms using this kind of technology is Workday. Workday offers tools for managing HR payroll and recruiting. Tens of thousands of employers around the world, including the Wall Street Journal, use Workday, which means that the platform is often the first point of contact for job seekers filling out an application. Derek Mobley was one of those people.

[Derek Mobley]

It was just kind of interesting. I was like, wow, there's a lot of companies that utilize this platform.

[Annie Minoff]

When Derek was on the job hunt after getting laid off in 2017, he kept finding himself on Workday.

[Derek Mobley]

Normally what I see is some type of workday moniker. Either it's in the URL, it might say abccompany.workday.com or it just might have the company name. But then it'll have a workday branding on the actual landing page that I'm on to try to apply for the position.

[Annie Minoff]

And what kinds of things do you have to submit?

[Derek Mobley]

Yeah, usually resume and, you know, voluntary questions that they ask you demographic wise, race, ethnicity, disability.

[Annie Minoff]

Lauren says that companies ask for this demographic information for their own equal employment record keeping, which some employers have to report to the government. And sometimes, Derek says, employers asked other.

[Derek Mobley]

Questions they're asking you, like maybe your attitude about certain things, you know, dealing with customers or how you interact with people, how you respond to coworkers, just things of that nature. And I guess, obviously, I guess it's tailored to the company that you're applying for.

[Annie Minoff]

Workday says that applications on its platform are unique to each employer and that it doesn't own or administer tests to evaluate a person's intellect, capabilities or personality. Once a job seeker like Derek submits an application through Workday, the company says its algorithm slots them into one of four categories. A strong, good Fair or low match for the position.

[Lauren Weber]

Workday says we put them into these categories of the buckets based on how they score. And then we give that information to the actual employer, Workday's customers. And from there, you know, Workday would say, we believe in ethical technology, ethical artificial intelligence. We believe there should be a human in the loop is the phrase that's often used.

[Annie Minoff]

But for candidates like Derek, those hiring decisions can feel awfully automated and impersonal.

[Derek Mobley]

These emails, they never come with any signatures. It's always, you know, the human resources department. There's never a specific person. Back when I was younger, there was usually a name associated with it, you know, like, you know, Bob from human resources.

[Annie Minoff]

You know, Bob didn't think you were a fit.

[Derek Mobley]

Right. You know, and the most frustrating thing was there were never any initial, you know, callbacks. There was never pre screening. And usually pre screening is very cursory. You know, you have these certain criteria that kind of met certain criteria for opposition. Hey, let's have a conversation. And that wasn't happening.

[Annie Minoff]

Over a two year period of unemployment, Derek spent hours applying for more than 100 jobs through Workday, jobs he felt qualified for, if not overqualified. Still, the rejections kept coming. And that made Derek wonder if there was something more going on, something to do with Workday's algorithms.

[Derek Mobley]

The more that I kept digging, the more emails I pulled up, just the frustration of that. I'm thinking there has to be. There's something here. I'm smelling the smoke. Not necessarily seeing the fire, but I'm definitely smelling the smoke.

[Annie Minoff]

What do you think these algorithms might be picking up on?

[Derek Mobley]

I mean, I think it's a combination of things. There are so many different things that people can glean from, like your resume and things that you put on the application. Disability, age, you know, race, for example.

[Annie Minoff]

Derek says he suffers from anxiety and depression, and he sometimes acknowledged that in his applications.

[Derek Mobley]

What do they ask you in those voluntary forms if you have a disability or not? There were times that I did indicate I had a disability.

[Annie Minoff]

Again, employers often gathered this information for their own equal employment record keeping. Derek also wondered if Workday's algorithms were picking up on his race.

[Derek Mobley]

You know, it could be a race thing. I'm not 100% sure. I went to a historically black university, so. Or college, I should say.

[Annie Minoff]

And he also thought his age could be coming into play because I noticed.

[Derek Mobley]

As I got older, the less opportunities I received for interviews, the less responses I received. Then it got to a point where I started to take the Date of graduation off my resume. See, maybe that might help.

[Annie Minoff]

You were trying to game the algorithm through what you submitted?

[Derek Mobley]

Yeah, I was trying to do the best I can to get a fair shake. You know, not trying to beat a system, not trying to do anything improper just to get a fair shake, to get somebody to get a chance to look at what I bring to the table.

[Annie Minoff]

Workday says that its recruiting tools aren't trained to use or even identify protected demographic information like race, age, or disability. The company also noted that its customers configure its systems to fit their own needs and that Workday doesn't control how or when employers might update job candidates about their applications. Still, Derek had become convinced he might have a legal case.

[Derek Mobley]

What I'm saying, you know, there is some kind of inherent bias. I found it mighty strange that no matter what job it was, no matter what company it was, no matter what the position was, it was always a automatic decline when I went through the Workday platform.

[Annie Minoff]

And so Derek sued Workday.

[Lauren Weber]

So the case was filed in 2023.

[Annie Minoff]

That's Lauren again.

[Lauren Weber]

And I noticed it probably right around the time when it was filed, was kind of interested. I, like many people that I've since spoken to about it, sort of assumed it wouldn't get very far.

[Annie Minoff]

But it did. Where Derek's case stands now is after the break. Derek Mobley sued Workday in 2023. His lawsuit claims that the company's hiring algorithm discriminated against him based on age, race, and disability.

[Derek Mobley]

It is somewhat of a novel type of case because usually people sue the employer that they didn't get the opportunity from. They usually don't sue Workday. And my contention is that it's the platform that's part of the problem. Not necessarily saying that Workday, in and of itself are discriminatory. They're providing the tool for discrimination. It's kind of like people providing the weapons that cause the destruction.

[Annie Minoff]

In a statement, Workday said that Derek's lawsuit is without merit, adding that its recruiting tools don't make hiring decisions which are always made by its customers. Workday also disputed that it provides tools for discrimination.

[Lauren Weber]

So they are trying to say if Derek Mobley is not getting jobs, it's not because of our software.

[Annie Minoff]

Workday has tried to get Derek's case thrown out. And in an early ruling, the judge in the case agreed that Workday's algorithms were not intentionally discriminatory. But she also left a door open for Derek and his legal team.

[Lauren Weber]

Now, even if Workday didn't intend to discriminate he can still try to show that Workday discriminated in the impact in the effects of its algorithms. That's called disparate impact.

[Annie Minoff]

So he doesn't have to prove, hey, your algorithm is discriminating against me. He just has to prove it has had the effect of discriminating. It's the outcome that matters.

[Lauren Weber]

It's the outcome that matters.

[Annie Minoff]

In May, without addressing Derek's race and disability claims, the judge said that Derek's case could proceed on the basis of age discrimination. Experts Lauren talked to told her that proving Workday's algorithms had the effect of discriminating would most likely involve looking at the platform's internal data.

[Lauren Weber]

For example, when companies have any kind of product or a test, certainly a hiring test or software, they should be doing some analysis to make sure that it is not having this disparate impact, that it's not affecting people of certain groups in a negative way. They may have already done that. And so this may just be a question of them producing the tests that they've already done. There's a lot of discovery issues that they're going to be wrangling over. Meaning how much information does Workday have to show Derek and his lawyers? Any software company will argue that it's. Its algorithms are proprietary. They don't want any of this to become public. They can't share it. These are trade secrets. How much do they have to divulge? There's a lot of complicated legal negotiating ahead.

[Annie Minoff]

We asked Workday whether it planned to share data with Derek and his team, and the company said it would be inappropriate to comment, given that the matter will soon be discussed in court. Derek is hopeful.

[Derek Mobley]

I don't need to personally know how the algorithm works. I don't need to see the code or any of that stuff. But I think that people who are trusted experts should have the opportunity to do so, and people who are independent, you know, and they can verify, oh, there's nothing to see here. Everything is fine. You know, it's probably just his bad luck. Oh, then I can accept that and move on with my life.

[Annie Minoff]

After a lengthy search, Derek did finally get a job in 2019. He moved into a new field, insurance. How did you eventually land your current job?

[Derek Mobley]

Well, I mean, after going through a lot of stuff, divorce and relocating and things of that nature, I end up in Charlotte. And one day I got a call out of the blue. It was from a recruiter, a person, a live bonafide person. She was from Allstate, and she mentioned that there was an Opportunity that they were looking to fill. And she set up for the initial pre screen over the phone, did that. After the initial pre screen, I was supposed to come into the office, interview with them in person and end up getting a position.

[Annie Minoff]

So this really came through kind of the old fashioned way.

[Derek Mobley]

Exactly.

[Annie Minoff]

You talked to a person, you went into the office.

[Derek Mobley]

Exactly.

[Annie Minoff]

And boom. Since then, Derek's been promoted twice. He likes his job, but says he's still making up for the time he spent unemployed and living off his retirement savings. His case against Workday may go through years of legal wrangling. Right now, the case has cleared the first step to becoming a class action.

[Lauren Weber]

At the point that it becomes a class action if it gets that far. Anybody who has applied for a job who's over the age of 40, who was essentially denied a job and they had applied through Workday's platform, potentially has a claim against Workday. As Workday pointed out in its arguments about this, that could be many millions of people.

[Annie Minoff]

Lots of people.

[Lauren Weber]

Lots and lots of people. Any job seeker over the age of 40, and I believe it's a five year period from like 2020 to 2025, you know, certain dates within that. And that was significant because if this continues to move forward, Workday could have millions of claims on its hands.

[Annie Minoff]

Workday continues to believe that the case is without merit and says that it shouldn't be certified as a class action, regardless of the eventual outcome of the case. It seems to have already struck a nerve with some people who feel burned by how hiring works these days. After Lauren's story published, she heard from lots of readers who worried about the role that algorithms play in hiring.

[Lauren Weber]

I think people are looking for some assurance, some assurance that the process is fair. And after that story came out, I was. I was kind of bowled over by the number of people I heard from who said, I'm convinced that this, that these systems discriminate against me because of my age. There are a lot of people out there who are convinced that the job market is not fair. And I think that's why Derek became sort of a hero to many of our readers who saw that story and wrote to me to say, not only are they pulling for Derek, but how can I join his lawsuit?

[Annie Minoff]

That's all for today. Thursday, August 14th. The journal is a co production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal. If you like our show, follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We're out every weekday afternoon. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.