Rejected Without a Conversation: UPPER's Talent Sourcing Software Keeps the Human Decision in the Shortlist
UPPER responds to Greenhouse's 2026 Future of Hiring Candidate Report: when candidates are rejected without ever speaking to anyone, the problem is a shortlist no human can defend.
ATLANTA, GA — UPPER, a woman-founded, AI-enabled talent sourcing platform for end-to-end talent scouting, today responded to new candidate-side research on AI in hiring with a simple point: when candidates are rejected without ever speaking to anyone, the problem is not the candidates — it is a shortlist no human can defend. UPPER's talent sourcing software scores every candidate against the actual role — responsibilities, seniority, and evidence of the work, not keywords — so top-ranked candidates with CVs are ready to be contacted by a person, not filtered out by a guess.
The research, Greenhouse's 2026 Future of Hiring Candidate Report, based on a survey of over 2,800 job seekers, reports that most U.S. job seekers used AI in their search in the past year while also changing how they write to avoid sounding like AI, that four in five were rejected in the past year without ever speaking to anyone at the company, and that most are open to AI in hiring when employers are upfront about how it is used and a human reviews the results. From one job description, UPPER sources across major job channels at the same time, scores every candidate against the real role, runs outreach, and manages engagement until top-ranked candidates with CVs are ready to be contacted.
"UPPER exists because I watched the same week repeat: write the job description, burn days on manual searching and scoring, send outreach into the void, and lose the best people before the first call," said Rachel Messing, founder and CEO of UPPER. "So we built the machine to do the digging. Machines source, score, and recommend; people decide."
UPPER is available now to talent teams and staffing firms in any industry. Details at https://www.upperlev.com
ABOUT UPPER:
UPPER is a woman-founded, AI-enabled talent sourcing platform for end-to-end talent scouting. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, UPPER serves talent teams and staffing firms in any industry. We help find Rockstar talent every day, powered by amazing humans and AI. https://www.upperlev.com
PRESS CONTACT:
Rachel Messing, CEO, UPPER — [email protected]
260 Peachtree Street Northwest, Suite 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303
The research, Greenhouse's 2026 Future of Hiring Candidate Report, based on a survey of over 2,800 job seekers, reports that most U.S. job seekers used AI in their search in the past year while also changing how they write to avoid sounding like AI, that four in five were rejected in the past year without ever speaking to anyone at the company, and that most are open to AI in hiring when employers are upfront about how it is used and a human reviews the results. From one job description, UPPER sources across major job channels at the same time, scores every candidate against the real role, runs outreach, and manages engagement until top-ranked candidates with CVs are ready to be contacted.
"UPPER exists because I watched the same week repeat: write the job description, burn days on manual searching and scoring, send outreach into the void, and lose the best people before the first call," said Rachel Messing, founder and CEO of UPPER. "So we built the machine to do the digging. Machines source, score, and recommend; people decide."
UPPER is available now to talent teams and staffing firms in any industry. Details at https://www.upperlev.com
ABOUT UPPER:
UPPER is a woman-founded, AI-enabled talent sourcing platform for end-to-end talent scouting. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, UPPER serves talent teams and staffing firms in any industry. We help find Rockstar talent every day, powered by amazing humans and AI. https://www.upperlev.com
PRESS CONTACT:
Rachel Messing, CEO, UPPER — [email protected]
260 Peachtree Street Northwest, Suite 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303
- Contact Email
- [email protected]
- Issued By
- UPPER
- Business Address
- 260 Peachtree Street Northwest, Suite 2200
Atlanta, GA 30303 - Country
- United States
- Categories
- Business · Human Resources · Software
- Last Updated
- November 7, 2026