Why human CV screening is the smartest (and safest) move you’ll make in 2025

Free AI screeners look tempting, until you count the hidden costs.  Whilst we support and are always working towards better and more effecient recruitment processes, there is still much to develop with these platforms before they can confidently be adopted in many business processes.

Here are some reasons why our manual CV screening and review service still beats a “no-fee” algorithm every time.

1. Discrimination is in the spotlight.

Although not UK law, its worth noting that Workday’s AI hiring tool is now the focus of a U.S. class action. A federal judge has ordered the company to hand over a list of employers after applicants alleged its screening system “weeded out” older candidates. If the claim succeeds, every organisation on that list could be sued next.

Ageism is back under the spotlight at home last month. The Employment Tribunal has allowed a claim by civil servant Robert Franchi to proceed after he argued DWP’s pay rules favoured staff under 40.

Even seemingly neutral criteria can cost you: Lidl was hit for more than £50k when a 63 year old scored lower in redundancy selection, simply because he had no degree.  This indirect age discrimination ruling would look identical, if an AI had done the scoring.

2. Law-makers are closing the loopholes.

From July 2025, the UK Employment Rights Bill will void NDAs that gag workers from talking about discrimination. This makes it far easier for a rejected applicant to go public and for the courts to trace their rejection to your automated tool.

A manual review doesn’t just lower the risk of bias and give you control, it can also create an auditable paper trail of human judgement, which is exactly what tribunals and regulators now expect.

3. Humans see value that machines miss.

A recent example of this is apple hr support, who chose our service because they wanted people, not software, deciding who fits their clients culture.

Six months later, every role was filled and the client credited “the human touch” for spotting an amazing hire that an algorithm would have filtered out. (Full story in the linked case study.)

Contextual reading of career breaks, career-changers and transferable skills, where the keywords in a CV may differ from any that algorithms can pick up, can ensure that you do not miss out on exceptional talent.  In addition, applicants who feel heard are 38% more likely to speak positively about your company, even if they don’t get the job (LinkedIn Global Talent Trends).

4. The numbers favour you.

One tribunal loss for discrimination (circa £50k+ plus legal fees) dwarfs the cost of screening your roles manually. Add the productivity hit of a mis-hire, or the brand damage of a viral bias story, and “free” quickly becomes very expensive.

How Flat Fee Recruiter blends tech and humanity.

Smart filters first.  With every campaign we set candidate questions and use automation to strip out obvious mismatches fast.

Humans review.  Every remaining CV is read by a trained recruiter who can override or amend scores.

Bias checkpoint. We flag patterns (e.g., all under 25’s rejected) before a shortlist leaves our desk.

Transparent reporting. You receive notes explaining key decisions, building a compliance audit trail.

This means that you get the speed of AI plus the fairness and insight only people can provide.

Bottom line

Free AI screeners promise efficiency but the law is demanding accountability, and with such early adoption, we encourage businesses to tread with caution. If AI is your chosen route then frequent and rigourous testing of the results is currently still essential. Alternatively, you can choose our CV screening service which will buy peace of mind, richer shortlists and a recruitment process that lives by our core value “Be Human”. The efficient recruiting that our clients expect and we feel technology still can’t replicate.

Ready to protect your brand and hire better? Talk to us about Manual CV Screening today.