A quick note on all this “workplace ghosting” stuff

Actually wrote about this before on another site, and my thoughts might be more fleshed out over there … but now you’ve even got Wharton jumping in on this discussion, so I felt like taking a few words on it.

The No. 1 thing to understand on the candidate side of this equation

Companies have been “ghosting” us as candidates for literally decades. There is always horrible communication during a hiring process, no follow-up, no context, no priority, and oftentimes it feels like HR doesn’t even understand the job role or where to find more information. And, the process can stop on a dime, even when you desperately need an income source. The whole thing is a little bit much. And it’s been happening consistently for decades, so why wouldn’t candidates rebel and start doing the same shit back to employers in a job market with seemingly more opportunities?

A note about millennials and professionalism

Is this some part of the “millennial mindset” that shows that young bucks are not professional and can’t respect their elders? That’s the idea that many people who write about this stuff are trying to put forth. It’s not accurate, though.

First of all, for most of modernity, older generations have sneered at younger people. That’s all that is happening with milllennials now. The difference might be the scale of mobile, but Silents sneered at Boomers too. It’s the cycle of life.

And, in reality, most millennials are more professional, and more committed to work, than Boomers are. Makes sense, as they’re trying to prove themselves more.

Is it professional to ghost? Nope. But is it professional to treat your employees like donkeys? Nope, either. And Boomers having been doing that for 25 years. Each side has flaws.

Will ghosting stop?

Yep. When the job market resets/crashes or when we start automating out more jobs. It won’t stay as a theme for that long.

Is this all somewhat about civility?

Sure, to an extent — and that’s been in decline workplace-wise for a number of years anyway.

Treat people with respect. If they are not able to buy basic groceries and need a job to get that going, let them know where things stand with the job. Because we’ve been treating candidates like animals for years, now the animals are pushing back and treating the employers like crap. It’s a cycle. And most of it can disappear if you just throw respect back into the equation.