Job search: More and more applicants are ghosting employers – even after they have been accepted

Apparently, the applicant of today can be an extremely shy creature. Difficult to find, even more difficult to capture. Even when an employer thinks they have a suitable candidate for the job, there’s always a risk that he or she will suddenly turn to hell and never see you again. At least that’s what a survey of 400 recruiters by the Indeed job site suggests.

In this, the HR experts surveyed report that they are increasingly being ghosted by employees during the application phase. So that the applicants – without canceling – suddenly break off contact and no longer react to messages. More than every second recruiter states that ghosting by applicants has become more frequent over the past year. Only one in six has the opposite impression, the rest see no change.

No response to job offer

Applicant ghosting is apparently part of everyday life for many recruiters. Eight percent of respondents experience it daily, 26 percent experience it every week, and another 32 percent experience it at least once a month. Conversely, three quarters of recruiters occasionally do not get back to applicants – according to their information, however, less frequently than the other way around. Every fourth recruiter even says that he has never suddenly and without further ado stopped contacting applicants.

It is also interesting to know when the contact was broken off by the applicant. Not surprisingly, this is most often the case in the early stages, before the interview (36 percent). But even after the job interview, many people switch to radio silence (29 percent) despite the open outcome of the application. According to the survey, some do not even respond to a job offer (18 percent) and another 7 percent of recruiters even report that new employees simply did not show up on their first day.

change in the labor market

Ghosting is found in all positions, from manager to trainee, according to the survey of applicants, but is most common among regular full-time employees. Male applicants also ghost more often than female applicants.

The results of the survey reflected the general change in the job market, says Indeed expert Tim Verhoeven. “For years, ghosting was mainly considered an annoyance for applicants who did not receive any feedback from companies. Now the tide has turned. More and more candidates are breaking off contact with companies without comment.” This is only plausible in view of the turn on the labor market towards a candidate market. “Applicants often have the choice between several good options, just like companies used to, and do not follow every application process consistently to the end.”