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Ghosting is just a nasty trend that needs to stop. Perhaps it’s too easy, in our digital era, so simply walk away from an employer that you’ve only met a few times on a Zoom call. We get that. But it hurts. Your recruiter may end up wondering if they did something wrong or even that something happened to you. Not only that, but employers are ghosting candidates too these days. It’s a full-cycle problem that has negative ramifications on whoever is doing the ghosting.

Why Ghosting Should Stop

Ending contact with a recruiting team with no word of explanation is increasing. The latest surveys say 77% of job seekers have been ghosted by an employer and about that same volume of employers have been ghosted by candidates.
Ghosting happens at every stage in the hiring process. Some candidates take it all the way and simply don’t show up on their first day of work. Others just skip the first phone interview. No matter where you ghost within the hiring cycle, it’s absolutely unprofessional. The data shows that job seekers ghost employers because:

  • They received another offer (20%).
  • They were unhappy with the salary employers were offering (13%)
  • They decided the job wasn’t right for them after all (15%)
  • 4% blamed COVID.

Just 27% of job seekers in the last year said they haven’t ghosted an employer.

Not only is ghosting hurtful to candidates and hiring teams, but there are also serious ramifications that follow job applicants. TechRepublic notes that 54% of job seekers say they experienced negative ramifications from ghosting an employer. They say, “Employers are keeping score” in the following ways:

  • 93% of employers record the ghosting incident under the candidate record in their applicant tracking systems.
  • Of those that keep records, 26% track those that stop responding, 35% track who misses an interview, and 33% say they track anyone who doesn’t show up on their first day on the job.

80% of employers say candidates that ghost will have a negative flag on their record that will crop up in future job searches. Given that many jobs exist within small communities, both geographically and from a career perspective, word about the ghosting candidate will spread. Certainly, within the staffing community, these candidates are carefully flagged for risk and are rarely presented again to employers.

The idea of ghosting seems to illustrate that something is broken within the recruiting and hiring process. TechRepublic suggests that candidates do not feel as if their needs are being met during this process and employers admit frustration with hiring in general because there often are not enough candidates to go around. Add to this a ghosting phenomenon that seems to suggest the connections between candidate and employer are much more fragile than they used to be and you have a national issue that will take some effort to resolve.

That’s where Stellar Staffing can help. We specialize in building bridges between the employer and candidate in a way that is empathetic and authentic. Talk to our team about how we can help you meet your hiring goals.

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