FAAES is an independent research and advisory initiative on automated hiring. We document lived experience, conduct independent research, and convene scholars to build the evidence base for fairness, accountability and agency in employment.
A growing and largely undocumented number of people are filtered, scored and rejected by automated hiring systems they cannot see, understand or contest. When something goes wrong, responsibility is hard to locate — existing legal frameworks struggle to say who, if anyone, is accountable.
FAAES exists to close that gap. We collect first-person testimony from people affected by these systems, conduct independent research into how the systems behave in practice, and convene scholars to build a public evidence base for fairness, accountability and agency in employment.
Each week, FAAES publishes a short, anonymous account from someone who applied for a role and was rejected — often within minutes, often with no explanation given even on request. These are self-reported experiences, recorded in the person's own words, and added to a growing public register.
FAAES runs a small, deliberate programme across the academic year — building the register, publishing research, and convening the people working on this from different directions.
FAAES is currently forming its founding advisory council — scholars working on different facets of the responsibility gap in automated decision-making. Names will appear here as they're confirmed.
AI ethics and governance
Equality law
Labour rights
Human oversight and regulation