Ghosting - someone suddenly ends all communication without an explanation. 

"It's an unfortunate trend that has made its way from the dating world to the workplace. Ghosting, the art of disappearing without a word, has become the daily frustration of many human resource managers across industries. Even in a pandemic-impacted job market and an economic downturn, ghosting has become an all-too-common practice among job seekers," says Patrick O’Rahilly.

i.While there's nothing wrong with accepting another job offer, bailing on an employer without notice could have lasting effects. Recruiters and managers say they have been left high and dry by new hires who vanish without explanation. Also, being ghosted by a potential employer is very unprofessional as well. 

According to research from Indeed.com, 28% of candidates ghosted an employer during 2020, which is up from 18% in 2019.

ii. According to a study from CareerBuilder, more than two-thirds of hiring managers say that candidates dropping off during the application process is a problem for their company, according to research from CareerBuilder.

iii. It's becoming prevalent to hear from recruiters, "Candidate didn't show up, and no one was able to reach him." The high number of no-shows for the positions leads to "much finger-pointing" and reflection about the company's hiring process. 

"Keep candidate informed about the company and job, and not take for granted that everybody who goes through the interview and selection process wants to work for the company," says Ankita Mishra from KritikalHire. It is the best advice for employers dealing with an increasing number of candidates who drop out of the hiring process, fail to appear for interviews, and even accept offers but disappear. 

Being ghosted is "very upsetting," especially when it's by someone you've come to trust. The number of no-shows experienced by recruiters increased in 2021, and attempts to follow up with candidates are becoming increasingly futile. 

"We are all fishing from the same pond, and people have choices now and have the opportunity to explore different positions and roles and levels of compensation. And with that choice, you have people changing their minds midstream - it can be very frustrating," says Kathryn Vasel from CNN Business. 

"The world is small," said Johnny Taylor, President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management. And even if you think you don't want to work at the company, hiring managers move around. "You are compromising yourself, and you don't know how this will show up to hurt you later."  

What is the employer and employee role in the above situation? We will explore the same in the next few blogs. Here is what industry leaders say.  

Someone accepts a job offer but doesn't show up on their first day (or any day) of work. It's on the rise, too. In the Indeed survey, one out of every four employers reported new hire "no-shows" on what would've been day one. That's much-wasted corporate swag, not to mention the time and money spent on the hiring process. Unfortunately, Gen Z and Millennial workers are more likely to disappear than other generations. 

Another common cause of ghosting is poor communication. "If the candidate doesn't understand where they're at in the process or how long the process will be, they can lose interest and become disengaged," says Cannata, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "Similarly, if the process is too long and feels like it's dragging out because the employer keeps adding one more interview or they're unsure of when they'll have a decision, that can also lead to drop off." 

Unfortunately, ghosting is a trend it seems likely to stay. Candidates have visibility as to who is calling them or emailing them and are likely to ignore the call once they know who is calling. It means employers need to engage with the candidates with the resource funnel. The new tools of engaging with the candidates are essential to contact the candidates. 

Employers need to step into the 21st century and leverage new tools, whether email funnels to keep candidates engaged or partnering with resources to help fill their staffing voids.