New Delhi, Oct. 22 -- A company's struggle to fill a vacancy has sparked debate about automated recruitment after a manager claimed on Reddit that his application for a position on his own team was rejected within six minutes.

In the post, the manager said his team had been trying to fill a senior associate position for months, with the human resources department repeatedly reporting difficulties finding suitable candidates. To understand why applicants were not progressing, he said he applied for the vacancy using a different name and email address.

According to his account, the application was rejected almost immediately, despite his familiarity with the role and its requirements.

The manager alleged that the screening process may ha...