AI-Enabled Job Markets & Market Participation: A Field Experiment on how AI Shapes Jobseekers’ Expectations of Competition

Artificial intelligence is increasingly mediating how jobseekers are matched with employers, raising fundamental questions about how its use affects participation in labor markets. We examine whether AI-based matching alters jobseeker behavior-specifically, their willingness to participate. Drawing on a field experiment with 4,562 jobseekers randomly assigned to disclosure conditions, we find that participation was about one-quarter lower when AI use was disclosed than in either a humanmatching treatment or a control group with no source specified. Participation responses varied systematically, consistent with jobseekers forming expectations about how AI affects (i) predicted match quality, (ii) the types of inputs and information used, and (iii) the scale of competition. These relationships were strongest among jobseekers with greater familiarity with AI, proxied by STEM backgrounds.

Our findings highlight how AI disclosure can reshape both the level and composition of participation, as AI alters expectations of payoffs, with implications for platform design, policy, and the governance. More broadly, the results underscore the importance of distinguishing structural payoff effects-which may persist over time-from subjective attitudinal reactions to AI, which may be more transient.