THE UNPAID QA FLYWHEEL
Make them work for free.
Then automate their jobs.
Ender’s Game for QA
- 01
The job market floods
A weekend of unpaid work starts to look like the price of entry.
- 02
The interview is a test run
Candidates burn their own time and AI credits building demos and debugging integrations.
- 03
The bugs roll in for free
Take-homes expose broken APIs, bad docs, and workflows that fall apart.
- 04
AI comes for more work
Fix what the candidates find and the AI can do more of the work people got paid to do.
THE INCENTIVE
More desperation.
More free labor.
Inspired by a forwarded made-of-meat discussion · November 10, 2026
HELP DOCUMENT THE PATTERN
Seen this in the wild?
Tell us about companies turning interviews into unpaid work.
Include the company, what they asked you to do, and any supporting links. Please redact personal details from evidence you share.