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Ever had a great job candidate who didn't respond to your calls, texts and e-mails about a job offer? Had a new hire who never showed up to work? Or had an employee walk off without a word, never to be heard from again? You were "ghosted." Such behavior has left many HR professionals and hiring managers baffled. In today's market, job seekers and workers are in the driver's seat. There are now more openings—6.6 million as of June 1—than there are unemployed people—6.1 million, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But no-shows and mysterious disappearances are happening nationally across a wide range of industries. "For years, candidates anxiously awaited responses from employers after meticulously preparing their resumes and cover letters, attending interviews and then—cricket sounds—nothing," says Susan Hosage, SHRM-SCP, senior consultant and executive coach for OneSource HR Solutions in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Recruiters dodged phone calls and deleted messages from candidates who wanted to know their hiring status. "Now, the tables have turned."



Peter Cappelli, professor of management and education at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania—and director of the school's Center for HR—agrees.

"Employers have been ghosting applicants for decades, so I'd say turnabout is fair play," he says.

At Trevi Communications Inc. in Danvers, Mass., hiring managers no longer get too excited when the company receives an e-mail from a well-qualified candidate, says Eugene Hunt, principal.

"Now we see every applicant as another move in a game of chance, since the odds are about 1 in 4 that they will go through the process without becoming distracted or disengaged—and disconnect—at some point," he says.

Hunt dismisses the notion that ghosting is about "Millennial entitlement." Instead, he says, it's "more a case of a buyer's market … with myriad opportunities and no consequences if you just walk away from an employer or job offer without ever communicating or engaging."

He also attributes it to "generational inexperience and immaturity, lack of professionalism … testing the waters to see what's out there, even an extension of dating rituals where ghosting is routine. Also, there's probably a perception that there are no consequences to ghosting: No response is a response."

