62% of Italians are out of the game. Here’s how the algorithm is filtering the future of job seekers

The accuracy of the Linkedin analysis presented rests on two solid statistical pillars that guarantee both a qualitative and quantitative overview, starting from consumer research conducted by Censuswide between 13 and 28 November 2025 on a sample of 19,113 workers, including full-time, part-time and unemployed profiles looking for work, distributed across 13 global markets including Italy in full compliance with the international ESOMAR principles. It goes hand in hand with this the Jobs on the Rise survey, based on findings from the LinkedIn Economic Graph, which examined millions of career paths started between 1 January 2023 and 31 July 2025 to calculate the specific growth rate of each role, applying rigorous filters to exclude internships or temporary positions and thus return only the structural trends of the market.

The paradox of selection: between “Ghosting” and algorithms

The search for a job in the current market has turned into what many professionals define as “an arduous undertaking”, an obstacle course where bureaucratic complexity seems to prevail over the evaluation of talent. At the center of this malaise emerges the data on exasperated competition, cited by 44% of those interviewed as the main barrier, followed by a perception of excessive rigidity in the selection processes (36%), now structured on standardized criteria that leave little room for human intuition.

This rigidity is directly reflected in the structure of the hiring processes: around half of the candidates (50%) believe that the processes are fragmented into an excessive number of phases, transforming recruitment into an exhausting marathon which, for 49% of users, has lost every human trait. Automation and the use of digital filters have in fact accentuated a sense of impersonality, where the candidate feels reduced to a series of keywords within a database rather than a resource to be discovered.

Added to this complex architecture is an emotional component of profound frustration linked to communication. The lack of transparency is one of the most critical issues: almost one in four candidates (24%) reports extremely slow response times that leave professionals in professional limbo for weeks. The most toxic phenomenon, however, remains the so-called “ghosting”, or the total lack of feedback after sending the application or, worse, after having had the first interviews; a practice that affects 20% of research participantsundermining trust in the system and motivation to continue on the career path.

Marcello Albergoni, Country Manager of LinkedIn Italy, observes: “The job market today increasingly resembles a large roundabout […] we need tools that make the path more legible, fair and based on skills.”

Generations compared: escape and the wall

The generational gaze reveals deep fractures. On the one hand, Gen Z (81%) and Millennials (67%) are ready to move abroad to find more rewarding opportunities. On the other hand, senior profiles experience the age factor with anxiety, perceived as an obstacle to change despite consolidated experience. In this context, merit still seems to succumb to informal dynamics: 32% of professionals believe that personal knowledge matters even more than real skills.

The most in-demand jobs of 2026

Despite the difficulties, the Jobs on the Rise list highlights vertically expanding sectors, driven almost entirely by technology and security:

Artificial intelligence engineer

AI Director

Health Safety Environment Specialist

Avionics systems engineer

Bioinformatico

Michele Pierri, Senior Managing Editor of LinkedIn Notizie Italia, underlines: “The challenge is to invest in skills and exploit trends such as Jobs on the Rise – from AI engineer to AI director – to transform a rapidly evolving context into opportunities.”