Italian tech company Bending Spoons, owner of AOL and Evernote, received 800,000 job applications last year and hired just 286 people—an acceptance rate of 0.04%.
Bending Spoons: Harder to Join Than Harvard
Forget Harvard. Getting hired at Bending Spoons is 100 times harder. According to a report featuring CEO Luca Ferrari, the Milan-based company received 800,000 applications last year, put 60,000 through reasoning and judgment tests, interviewed just 3,300—and hired only 286, Wall Street Journal reports.
Ferrari says standard interviews are basically useless, so Bending Spoons built a data-driven system instead, scoring candidates on everything from test results to how politely they treat lower-level staff.
The company, founded in 2013, buys aging tech brands like AOL and Vimeo, replaces most staff with young “Spooners,” and rebuilds operations from scratch. An internal team constantly refines the hiring model, tracking employee performance for years after hire.
NEWS NOW:
- Ceasefire in tatters: US launches third round of strikes against Iran over Strait of Hormuz attacks
- White House shuts down meeting between Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office and Iran
- Experts advise pregnant women to cut sugar to protect children’s mental health
- Pentagon releases 40 new UFO files, including pilot’s mystery encounter
