Archive · 13 Jan 2026
AI's Impact on Cover Letters
AI has changed how people write cover letters.
Before AI, cover letters were shorter and showed that a person put in effort.
Now, with AI, cover letters are longer and everyone can make them look good.
Employers used to pay more for well-written letters, but now they don't care as much because everyone's letters look the same.
This means people are getting paid less and employers are hiring worse candidates.
Even though employers save money, workers lose more than they gain.
AI has increased the median length of cover letters on Freelancer.com from 79 to 104 words post-ChatGPT.
AI-generated cover letters using the site's tool have a median length of 159 words.
Employers have stopped valuing cover letters as much since AI makes them all look effortful.
The value of a well-written proposal pre-LLM was $26 per task, but this premium disappeared post-LLM.
AI cover letters have led to an estimated 5% decrease in wages and 1.5% decrease in hiring on the platform.
- Who
- Jobseekers and employers on Freelancer.com
- What
- The impact of AI on cover letters and hiring practices
- When
- Pre- and post-ChatGPT era
- Where
- Freelancer.com, a jobs-listing site
- Why
- To understand the effects of AI-generated cover letters on the labor market
- Pre-LLM median cover letter length
- 79 words
- Post-LLM median cover letter length
- 104 words
- AI tool median cover letter length
- 159 words
- Pre-LLM median score for cover letters
- 3.9
- Post-LLM median score for cover letters
- 7.8
- Value of a well-written proposal pre-LLM
- $26 per task
- Estimated wage decrease due to AI
- 5%
- Estimated hiring decrease due to AI
- 1.5%