General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"ghosting" a problem for employers... new hires walking away without explanation
A phenomenon of "ghosting coasting" is creating new headaches for employers in a tight labor market.Recruiters and managers say they have been left high and dry by new hires who vanish without explanation.
Meanwhile workers say low wages and poor leadership give them little reason to stick around.
Recruiters in several industries say they've never seen anything like it.
"We are in such desperate need that I would literally hire anyone that passes the background check," said one food-service recruiter who is currently trying to staff a large food-service contract. Insider agreed to not publish her name or client.
In the past six weeks alone, she told Insider, she scheduled 58 interviews for jobs ranging from $14 to $20 per hour, of which 27 candidates actually showed up. From there she scheduled eight for onboarding after they passed a background check, only to have just five show up for work. Of those five, three have ghosted her leaving only two out of the original 58 she considered.
"We're just understaffed and barely keeping our heads above water and I'm at a complete loss as to how to fix it," she said.
The manager of a spa and fitness center at a California country club said she has had eight new hires ghost her this year so far, even after she specifically talks about ghosting in her onboarding process and asks that workers stay in communication with her, especially if they want to quit.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/employers-say-ghosting-coasting-is-a-growing-problem-but-workers-have-their-reasons-for-quietly-walking-away-from-a-job/ar-AAOBCoa?ocid=msedgntp
ret5hd
(20,433 posts)Uhhh...I bet i could fix it.
Demsrule86
(68,348 posts)area51
(11,868 posts)Demsrule86
(68,348 posts)minimum wage and tips are not what they once were in half empty restaurants.
PatSeg
(46,793 posts)People working service jobs are often treated very poorly and expectations can be unrealistic. It can be demeaning, soul-sucking work that is hard to tolerate at any salary.
Demsrule86
(68,348 posts)job...my husband was sick and on disability. We needed the money. And it amazed me how even people who I knew made less money than I did (guard jobs pay fairly well) were so contemptuous...now I have a decent opinion of myself so I found it somewhat amusing and it was a part-time temporary job. But I can imagine how this might wear people down...the constant lack of being valued as a person and a worker would be awful.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)I always tip the hotel maid from that experience
Demsrule86
(68,348 posts)We wore shorts and a sexy top...Dad came in and said, 'my daughter is quitting now We will send back the costume no doubt it will fit in a small envelope-not much postage for something that small...get your things daughter, we are leaving'. I told my boss I was 18 and could do what I wanted...he said go with your Dad...and that was it.
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)Oh well.
Irish_Dem
(45,621 posts)DBoon
(22,285 posts)How many workers over the last 40 years went to work and were escorted out as a layoff?
Salviati
(6,002 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,303 posts)rest of the crew - Sorry guys, this was the last night. We're shutting the doors.
I was a single mom, already so poor I saved uneaten food off of the plates I picked up so my daughter could eat decent, nutritious food. It was a fucked up job but I needed it, badly.
I hope, from the deepest parts of my soul that something like this has happened to those people.
Walleye
(30,703 posts)Demobrat
(8,915 posts)So, yeah.
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)If your employer has Federal contracts they pretty much have to test everyone.
cadoman
(792 posts)They're so not used to employees having the upper hand and it's fun to watch employees setting the rules for a change.
ZonkerHarris
(24,155 posts)Walleye
(30,703 posts)twodogsbarking
(9,298 posts)Say no to rugs.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)Response to Thomas Hurt (Reply #5)
Demobrat This message was self-deleted by its author.
dutch777
(2,866 posts)Many of us whether business owners with employees or just folks going out for a meal or some other service took the service workers for granted...they just had to be there. Really creating a new mindset. I am just afraid that if this extends to medical and other more crucial services, what a pickle we will be in.
wellst0nev0ter
(7,509 posts)Seriously, fuck them.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)Lemon Lyman
(1,346 posts)You have to do everything right.
You wear your best outfit.
You show up to the interview early.
You interview well.
You send the obligatory "Thanks for the interview"-letter.
8 out of 10 places don't even contact you to let you know they're going in another direction.
Or the crappy customer service job which I applied for 20 years ago. They wanted me to come back for interview after interview. By the 3rd or 4th one I'd had enough. We're talking about a $10/hour call center job for christsake.
My sister got a lot of the same treatment when she was interviewing for a job as a teacher 20 years ago too.
F*CK THEM!!
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)I had one of his kooky devotees keep me on a pre screen phone interview for 2 1/2 hours one time that was like a police interrogation. I started saying the craziest shit I could think of towards the end just to get off the phone and she kept going! I wouldn't even apply to a job that asked me to take one of those tests today.
I have definitely walked off jobs when the situation became untenable before ghosting was ever a thing. One time I clocked in and no one was there. It turns out they decided to go off and have a meeting. I was on time and wandered around and finally found them. This girl who had just been appointed supervisor got it in her mind that I was late and told me she was going to write me up. I pointed out that I was there and ready on time. She insisted so when our conversation ended I quietly gathered my things and left. No one even saw me. When I went back to collect my final check these idiots acted like they were afraid of me like I might go postal on them. No, I thought, you don't really pay well and I'm not going to put up with this shit. It was that simple.
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,626 posts)on the receiving end of that shit...
DBoon
(22,285 posts)I remember the wilting flowers left at a cubicle for someone laid off. The girlfriend had just sent them without knowing he had no job.
Backseat Driver
(4,336 posts)12 year vested employee in IT for major healthcare provider following really expensive marketing campaign that they were #1 - LOL! DH never had a lasting healthcare policy since including Obamacare or an actual annual salary lasting over 2 years. Lots of "ghosted by employer interviewers." One interviewer was amazed DH was not an Asian - actually said it; another he had to be interviewed by the H1-B Indian "team." Then there was the "hand-shake" contract for PX stores' IT revamp, and the small-business women-run business (of Iranian-American heritage) looking for government contracts. And then one where DH sat for a month paid without so much as a workstation with no notice when he'd actually do any work on that contract... 1099ers that had no bereavement policies at all - WTF - nobody's mother dies? Got ghosted as an employee by EFMacDonald moving to Minneapolis's Carlson Marketing who took nobody from their Dayton IT staff after a big meeting at The Victoria Theater requesting interest; their employees were redundant drones, I guess. Then there was the outfit that wanted to hire pre-contract and wanted DH to actually stop job hunting yet be unpaid to do that, interview at his own expense; and only spoke in general terms about what that job description included; never found out if they ever actually got that mysterious contract. I'm absolutely sure recruiters and hiring managers were sharing commissions while they ghosted plenty of applicants. That was the living-wage gigs. Ho-ho-ho on the low-wage hourly ones as well. His full resume would likely look like a really bad multi-page e-book.
treestar
(82,383 posts)That's routine for people they don't hire. They aren't even listening to themselves.
KentuckyWoman
(6,666 posts)They wanted a world with no accountability. No loyalty to workers. Fire at will. They never thought about what it would be like if workers did it. Hospitality retail and food service are the worse.
I can't say I feel bad about employers getting what they asked for. Hard lessons not forgotten I hope.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)I opened a link which started one point that right to work states on average paid $5000+ less per employee.
[Disturbingly, the link got covered by 'illegal line 601?, and I could not recover that good link. The other links were about, 'no forced unionization, 'pro's and cons's, etc.]
marybourg
(12,540 posts)the whole serf class ghosted.
roamer65
(36,739 posts)gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)Backseat Driver
(4,336 posts)I was leaving; they had hired my replacement who came on-board; was introduced around the office and trained at her new desk (mine) briefly before lunch but never returned...it was a fairly good job for the time (executive secretary for bank Trust officer).
Four weeks ago DH's employer had 5 ghosters in a row. Only the one who had not passed the background check showed; bye-bye. Newbies were hired at a higher starting pay tier. That was discovered by two of the FT employees who were expected to train making $3 less per hour. The manager was out ill with a serious illness; a manager at another store was asked to manage their store as well as her own which was across town from each other; another 2 year employee lost a pregnancy and had post-partum difficulties. District decided to end 24/7 coverage and use only PT hours to cover remaining open hours so the FT employees became PT workers who had 4 weeks previously been "told" would "soon" be raised to the hourly rate the company was giving newbies. Didn't happen!- FTers were sent home to comply that very week...but the store had a CoVid exposure and per company policy needed to close for 10 days paid; pay day came and again NO CHECK. Told it would be on next one - A week later NO CHECK AGAIN! No one was doing payroll...Wanting to give notice in person, he asked for his next schedule by phone and was told it was a double-shift on Friday (payday - NO CHECK) followed by 8 hours on Saturday. WTH - DH had had three good interviews over those unpaid weeks off; one he accepted, but he got one more better offer and bowed out of that first offer to accept the one offering 3 dollars more and which was assured was not just a seasonal job. Sure hope he made the right decision and how long those checks will be "in the mail" to include accrued vacation hours and savings plan bucks.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)after a few hours, someone noticed. "where is Bill?". he never returned. previous to his ghosting, he has been analyzing the dynamics of the place and making comments. Clearly he realized that the work place wasn't for him.
Captain Zero
(6,714 posts)He signed it too.
HaHa. They put it in his personnel file.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)The boyfriend breaks up with her by post it stuck to her computer screen.
Meowmee
(5,164 posts)Where I worked years ago while I was a student, in a Dept Store, quitting the night her new car was stolen in the parking lot😹 She used to berate me that I was not allowed to leave my place to use the bathroom without permission even in an emergency. It was not ghosting but she had not been there for very long. I once ghosted a temp job that was so terrible in a med records, everyone there including the supervisor who was constantly talking about hunting a doc hubby was psycho - the ladies were literally screaming at each other non stop about personal issues. I was just filing things in stacks but it was so awful listening to all of that😳
Demobrat
(8,915 posts)I did call the temp agency and let them know. They said I wasnt the first.
Meowmee
(5,164 posts)Buckeye_Democrat
(14,846 posts)... had worked there about a week, and he won the big-screen TV during our Christmas raffle.
Everyone was clapping and congratulating him as he grabbed the big box containing the TV, but he showed absolutely no emotion on his face.
Then he started dragging the box across the floor and out of the break room, with several of us offering to help him carry the heavy box to his car, but he declined our help.
Then someone finally looked out the break room window, through the blinders, and noticed that his car was gone.
He never returned. LOL!
His boss at that company was a jerk, so I'm convinced that was the explanation for the new hire's unceremonious withdrawal.
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)slightlv
(2,635 posts)The job was nothing like I was told it was to be... absolutely NOTHING. I detested what I was doing. Did the proverbial went to lunch and never came back. Although I did pop my head into someone's office and said I wouldn't be back.
Over and lunch hour, went down the block, went into their HR and got a job for $5k/year doing what I loved that started the following Monday. Never looked back. Best thing I ever did.
live love laugh
(13,001 posts)explanation.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)their stop. was having a psychotic episode. I left a message on the bus website. Next day my phone rang.
The bus supervisor said that sometimes it happens, the bus drivers can't take it. eventually they pull over and walk off in mid shift.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)people are just fucking rude in general, and unaccountable to each other anymore. I'm trying to hire contractors for various aspects of home repair, and I get ghosted by HVAC and garage door and plumbing companies pretty routinely now. They either promise to come out to do work or give an estimate and never show--or they come out and say "I'll send you the estimate when I get back to my office, I have to check on the cost of that part" and we never hear from him again--or we get an estimate and follow up with more questions and never hear from them again. Just unbelievably rude. I don't understand how the world got like this, where people just decide they're done with you and break off all contact.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)They weren't the owners. I called them because at least they answer their phones or return messages, initially. The smaller-fish contractors don't even answer their phones or respond. I'm sure they have enough work and just don't bother.
Kaleva
(36,146 posts)Plumbing, electrical, and heating. Stuff I used to do.
Back when I was working, I did call everyone back and either tell them I could do the job or tell them I couldn't. People have told me that I was the only person who returned calls and that was years ago.
To this day, I still gets calls from people who say they can't get a hold of a plumber, HVAC repairman or electrician. Almost all of them I tell i can't do the work as I physically can't do it and I no longer have the tools , parts and equipment to do it. I can do the work for the neighbor as she understands I can only work for about 2 hours at a time a 2-3 days a week and she buys the materials and I have the tools to do what she wants as it's pretty basic.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)madville
(7,397 posts)And give out so many estimates that they probably dont even care. Many can tell when customers are just getting multiple bids and gonna pick the lowest so why bother if there is not much profit in it for them. Some probably bid low and if they get chosen realize its not worth their time depending on what else is on the schedule.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)I was lucky to get two bids out of four HVAC companies I contacted. One was ridiculous (11,000 for an air conditioner replacement for a 1600 square foot house--no furnace or ductwork, just AC inside and outside units!) which I took to be a "go fuck yourself" kind of bid. I took the lower bid which was still insane ($8000) because my old AC died and it was literally a hundred degrees all week, plus I don't have piles of money to set on fire, plus it seemed they would show up and do the work.
They did the work, not very well, we had to fix some things ourselves and have them come back again for electrical work.
All I'm saying is, If you don't plan to do the work, just say "We can't accommodate you, we're all booked up, sorry!" instead of letting me sit and wait for you all day and you are a no-show, or you never get back to me with the estimate you promised.
madville
(7,397 posts)But yeah, I get it, its frustrating. Its even worse now here in Florida, there is so much work available for these companies, good luck getting a reply or quote out of them half the time, especially for small stuff. No one will even quote me getting a section of fence replaced, just gonna do it myself when the vinyl panels I want come back in stock locally.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)My parents had a (shady) contractor give them a new roof that's now leaking, they can't get the original contractor to come back and fix it, and no other contractor is willing to take on a mere repair of a section of roof. They either want the big bucks to do a completely new roof or they aren't interested at all. So the roof keeps leaking and they get "handymen" to come out and try to seal it, for hundreds of dollars at a time. I got the sense, from the contractors I've dealt with recently, that they all have a figure in their minds that would make the job worth it, and it has little bearing on what the job would reasonably entail in "normal" times. Or they learn that we're not interested in any upgrades (Duct sealing and cleaning! Super high efficiency!) so they can't pad the bill. Yep, totally sucks right now.
moonscape
(4,664 posts)cost to remove and dispose of it. The 1st company said they would come for $100 to give me an estimate. Um, could you give me a ballpark, if there is no access issue, a straightforward range assuming no surprises? Nope. What if I take photos and bring them in to your office for a quote? Nope, we have to come out and theres a charge for that.
Tracer
(2,769 posts)I DO NOT ask for a quote from my treasured HVAC, plumber and electrician, because I know that they will be honest and fairly priced.
But recently I've been trying to get a mason to repair my chimney. It has 3 or 4 rows of loose bricks at the top.
One guy came and gave a price of about $1800. Then never called or came back.
Next man came and quoted $9,000! I think he didn't want to do it (and I wasn't going to pay that anyway).
Third guy came, took a look and wanted me to go to Home Depot for a 60lb bag of cement and a big ladder. I refused and he left never to be seen again.
Chimney bricks are still loose.
tonedevil
(3,022 posts)irisblue
(32,828 posts)Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)nice to contractors, all service people--we feed them lunch, we don't hover or make demands, I give them good reviews on Google even when they screw some things up (like installing and running our new AC without a filter, having dislodged loads of dust and dirt inside the old ducts and basement during the install, and not telling us, leaving us to find out days later, for example). I have absolutely no idea how you would get the idea that I'm not a joy to work for, that's really weird and kind of a personal attack.
tonedevil
(3,022 posts)that are ghosting on you don't know what a good thing they are missing out on.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)and saw something that wasn't there, didn't mean to attack you" or something along those lines, but now you're just carrying on with more snark. Whatever, dude.
Jedi Guy
(3,171 posts)I recently started working for an HVAC company as a supervisor, and part of my job is overseeing the text messaging portal. I've had a great many customers respond to me with, "Thanks for getting back to me, a lot of companies I've messaged never did."
I'm still learning the industry, but it really does seem like ghosting is common, from what I've seen and heard. Even if I can't help someone with their issue/request, I at least make sure to respond and let them know rather than just ignoring them. Just basic politeness, really.
And at some point they may have a request my company can help with, so that goodwill is just good business sense.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)kind of understand being too busy to respond, they have to answer their own phones during the workday and be their own secretaries and schedulers. The larger companies with fleets of work vans and crews and office personnel...what the hell is their excuse? You sound like a courteous and common-sense supervisor.
Jedi Guy
(3,171 posts)For the 1-2 man contractors, they have to be super picky about the jobs they take to maximize the money they're bringing in, so the unfortunate result is that they're going to ghost a lot of people who are looking for smaller and/or less profitable jobs.
I work for a large company, and keeping up with missed calls and voicemails is a constant struggle. Over the last few months with the extreme heat events we've had, we've been fighting a losing battle. I spoke to a customer just today who'd been trying to reach us to schedule his annual maintenance (that he'd prepaid for, it should be noted) for three months.
He'd left I don't know how many voicemails and we'd never been able to get back to him because we were (and are) constantly drowning in calls, and hold times when he called in were on the order of 20+ minutes. I smoothed it over with him and refunded a large portion of what he'd paid, but I hated that I was put in that situation to begin with.
As the extreme weather events due to climate change accelerate, it's only going to get worse. Well, it's job security, I suppose.
FakeNoose
(32,340 posts)... who is training the newly-hired, young workers? Businesses still need to train their staff and line people, especially now that baby-boomers are retiring in record numbers. People still need direction even when they are smart and motivated.
I've always felt that company training has been a weak link in American business, and it's going to get worse. Of course the new hires are confused, not sure if they want to stay, aren't committed to the company (yet.) Proper training can make all the difference for these workers.
vanlassie
(5,637 posts)Corporate America thought it was clever to cut out the training and supervisory links. It is not fun to be a lower paid person who isnt sure how to handle anything but the simplest aspect of a job. As the face of the company, it creates stress with the public who obviously notice and are pissed. The incompetence is everywhere. But a few people at the top still rake in the bulk of the profits, likely without having clue one what employees are going through.
onethatcares
(16,131 posts)no one is training anyone.
I'm 50 years in those fields and my experience has been no one wants to start at the digging phase of the trades.
and I can't blame them. (digging refers to the start, sometimes actually digging)
I just tore my bicep(s) laterally, and have to stop even though I have 50 years of knowledge and tools. I haven't met
anyone I would refer to my clients because I have a hard time trusting they'll be treated correctly. (my clients, that is)
and here in Floriduh, it's hot, really hot for outside work.
Coventina
(26,846 posts)We regularly get requests from large employers in the area to create courses that will basically replace training for their entry-level workers.
That way, they don't have to pay for their training expenses: the public and the employees do.
Unfortunately, administration gets suckered into that "deal" because the company will throw a few grand at scholarship programs to make it look like a "partnership" while really, it's the public who is picking up the tab.
One example, but there are many more:
https://www.mesacc.edu/news/press-release/mcc-partners-boeing-train-future-workforce
Frasier Balzov
(2,598 posts)Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)manager would find clothing at the workspace of the employee..underwear,shoes, earrings, watch.
Luciferous
(6,067 posts)druidity33
(6,435 posts)working at a small food coop in MA. Can't find ANYBODY to cover prep shifts or deli shifts. At $15 starting pay... and a Union job.
madville
(7,397 posts)I'd hate to be running a 100+ employee company involved in the trades at the moment, they could easily lose 50%+ of their workforce and not be able to replace them.
hatrack
(59,439 posts)Last edited Tue Sep 21, 2021, 09:23 PM - Edit history (1)
"At Will" cuts both ways - or didn't they know that?
themaguffin
(3,805 posts)Johnny2X2X
(18,744 posts)Workers are demanding a decent wage with benefits. If you aren't offering that, workers might not show up.
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)Businesses will adapt.
Hotler
(11,353 posts)We can fire you for little or no reason and at any time. I can quit for little or no reason and at anytime. I left an employer and they were all butt hurt I wouldn't give them a reason or an exit interview.
Chainfire
(17,305 posts)It is about damn time that the employment shoe was on the other foot.
obamanut2012
(25,911 posts)Good.
MoonlitKnight
(1,584 posts)People have had enough of this crap.
Long irrelevant applications.
Endless interviews.
Drug testing.
Background checks not relevant to the job.
Then when you get hired they schedule you for one four hour shift per week.
Demobrat
(8,915 posts)they cant make enough to cover gas to get to work and back and child care. So they blow it off.
The army of underpaid women that previously did most of the retail and food service work isnt stepping back up for more abuse. Go figure.
Chakaconcarne
(2,387 posts)Food Service employees can't afford the rent in large cities.. They have to commute an hour or more for low wages + COVID and in many cases a meaner clientele.... not worth it at the going wage.
For food service this will just force many restaurants to follow what they do in cities like Tokyo where you order at a machine, get a ticket for your food, pick it up and take it or eat it inside.... bus your own trash.... It's coming.
BumRushDaShow
(127,296 posts)DUers have called for a "nationwide 'workers' strike" (akin to a "wildcat strike" ).
And through the horrors of an unprecedented global pandemic, here we are.
MissB
(15,800 posts)(mostly small but some chains too) in my medium sized city that have greatly reduced hours or shut down temporarily altogether. I assume they cant find enough employees.
Its all good. Im happy the employees are able to get bigger wages.
Meanwhile, we heavily tip whenever we get food, even if its just takeaway.
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)business is evil let em choke
LiberalFighter
(50,496 posts)But I've been retired for 15 years. I then said why the hell would I? It would have to be a part-time job that would involve my expertise.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)are ones' that I've received in Orange County. of course, the restaurants all have help wanted signs.