Digital job coaches do not help unemployed people find jobs

A digital platform designed to help unemployed people find jobs did not improve their employment outcomes. Even with increased usage, people did not spend more time searching or broaden their job scope.

Governments and non-profits have invested in digital tools to replace traditional job counseling, hoping to scale support for the unemployed. This paper suggests that simply providing advice through an app is not enough to make a difference. It means that the assumption that digital tools can replicate human coaching for complex tasks like job searching is probably wrong.