The existing "employees choose which companies to respond to" approach is probably most in line with the realities of the tech labor market, and it gives companies a smaller pool of respondents to look at which have (nominally) read and been interested by their most recent job post. And for applicants, you get more leverage if you judge which positions are potentially relevant, then tailor a response for each company. The thread was fairly popular - but I don't think it really improves on the status quo, for either player.

But, I can see it helping for people who are less experienced or confident or whatever and likely to take job posts at face value instead of as a signal of the problems the company is trying to solve through hiring. It would be better to get past that obstacle, but pragmatically it may have its uses.