Dive Brief:
- Almost 6 in 10 (57%) of workers said they’ve been ghosted by U.K. employers after a job interview, according to a Greenhouse survey of about 800 employees based in the U.K.
- Despite corporate commitments to DEI, underrepresented candidates face a 20% higher chance of being ghosted compared to White candidates, Greenhouse said. In a seeming role reversal, male candidates are 28% more likely to be ghosted than female candidates, the hiring operating systems firm added.
- The survey also highlights what attracts workers to a new job: Increased pay was the reason cited most often, by 53% of the respondents. Other reasons include more flexible work policies (33%) and greater career advancement opportunities (30%).
Dive Insight:
The hiring market isn’t going to get easier any time soon, Jim Sykes, a global managing director for AMS, recently warned in a statement announcing the June release of an AMS and The Josh Bersin Co. report.
The report’s findings revealed that time-to-hire rates have increased to an all time high, with vacant jobs now taking 44 days on average to fill. This keeps a company from remaining competitive and keeping up with the fast-changing needs of its industry, according to the report.
For example, taking too long to fill vacant roles may exacerbate burnout among current team members, stagnate business goals and cause deliverables to lag, one expert told HR Dive in 2022.
Extended time-to-hire rates also turn off job candidates, who want faster responses from recruiters, a 2022 survey by talent engagement platform Sense found.
And it’s not just time-to-hire rates that talent acquisition and hiring teams should be concerned about. Ghosting applicants is also detrimental to business, Cathy Moll, a partner with executive search firm Thinking Ahead, wrote in a May blog.
Ghosting candidates can harm their perception of the company, a sentiment they’re likely to share on social media, which, in turn, can cause quick and widespread damage to the company’s reputation, Moll explained.
Also, when the hiring process drags on for an extended time, “candidates will ultimately start to wonder if this is a system-wide problem,” where decisions take too long to make and it’s difficult to get things done, Moll wrote.
The Greenhouse survey spotlights another issue — apparent bias in the hiring process.
Higher rates of underrepresented candidates being ghosted is only one aspect of the problem. A 2022 Greenhouse survey found that almost 40% of respondents who identify as Black faced discriminatory questions during a job interview, compared to 31% of White respondents.
In addition, a negative interview experience will likely drive candidates away, the survey also found. One solution — which reflects an employer’s commitment to DEI — is to make sure the interviewing panel is comprised of diverse individuals, respondents said.
