Last year, Steve Linder, the CEO of The WorkPlace Group was ghosted by a new hire. Calling it “complete job abandonment,” Linder and his team called, texted, and e-mailed the would-be employee before eventually sending them a formal letter terminating the employment. A little more than a year later, it happened again.
While flaking on an employer isn’t a new phenomenon, instances of no-shows — ‘ghosting‘ — have been on the rise over recent years. The strong job market and low unemployment rate have created the perfect conditions for new hires to walk away from a job before they’ve officially even started. Paul McDonald, senior executive director at Robert Half, put it this way to CNN: “People are getting multiple offers on the market today, and they’re not showing up on their first day of work.”
Applicants may be ditching their new employers for greener pastures, but it’s important for them to remember that eventually, the tides will turn. Linder warns those who may be considering ghosting on a new job that “when the job market turns, applicants who ghosted will have fewer job opportunities available to them.” While it may be uncomfortable at the moment, applicants who “own their decision” and make a call to the potential employer letting them know they won’t be taking the job, after all, fare better in the long run.
So what can employers do to prevent being ghosted? According to Jeremy Tolley, chief people officer at CareHere, establishing a closer relationship with a candidate before their first day can drastically cut down on the number of no-shows. CareHere created a better career website and increased the amount of contact with candidates leading up to their first day in order to “create a sense of obligation to the person.” Tolley says this move lets candidates know that his company is expecting and preparing for them and that by ghosting, they’d let the company down.
For more insights on the ghosting phenomenon and how the strong job market is a contributing factor, read the full article on CNN Business here.
