Job Ghosting: When Candidates Stand Up Companies

Ghosting Shifts: Now Candidates Are the Ones Who Disappear

Job ghosting is no longer a one-way street. For years, it was the company that promised to call back and never did; now, according to several participants, it's the candidate who completes the process, reviews the contract, and leaves without a word. The practice, once dubbed the art of disappearing at a party, has crossed the threshold of the HR department. And it's not an isolated case: in sectors like tech, one participant notes, candidates apply to half a dozen openings knowing only one will result in a contract.

The corporate complaint carries a touch of irony. Those now crying foul have spent years applying the same disappearing act in reverse: zero response after an interview, zero explanation for rejection, zero feedback. A reckoning is at hand.

A Phenomenon From Japan Fueled by Precariousness

The comparison with Japan isn't accidental, according to one participant: it's been documented there for a decade, linked to youth precariousness as a market adaptation strategy. In Spain, the breeding ground is different but equally fertile: lengthy processes, conditions revealed only at the end, and salaries that shrink just before signing.

Some argue that candidates "should at least send a message," that it costs little to leave a good impression for future encounters. Countering this is an older argument: how many times has a company called to say no? Silent rejection is the norm, not the exception.

Why Are Selection Processes So Lacking in Information?

The pattern repeats. Job postings without salary, hours, or even the company name until the candidate arrives in person. Interviews used for information gathering, not evaluation. And then, after the entire journey, the fine print: the salary is lower than advertised, hours are unpaid.

In the tech sector, the phenomenon is commonplace. People looking to change jobs apply to multiple openings simultaneously, and only one materializes, leaving the others in a very advanced limbo. Other times, the offer is a covert market study: some claim openings are posted just to project activity, with everyone being rejected.

From 'Ghosting' to 'Replacing': The Other Side of Silence

When it's the company that stands up a candidate after weeks of process, there's no English term to sugarcoat it. Some propose calling it 'replacing': according to one participant, if the first choice resigns, they move to the second, and rarely reach the third.

This exchange of blows has a cost. In the consulting world, it escalates, as recounted in the thread: a newly hired employee leaves after one or two months because another firm offered more money, leaving the project unfinished. The company pays a month's salary to someone unproductive and starts over.

The Numbers That Undermine Both Sides

The narrative of the capricious candidate crumbles with testimonies like that of a participant who spent nine years at the same company, earning the same from day one, with accumulated loss of purchasing power, until moving to a consultancy for €30,000, nearly doubling his previous salary in just over a year and a couple of job changes.

And the narrative of the generous employer also cracks. According to a participant, in the tech sector, some profiles have been doing project manager tasks for fifteen years and don't reach €30,000. Employers thrive on those who don't dare to move. In this scenario, free market seems to exist only in one direction.

---

Anecdotes abound. The handpicked candidate who went upstairs to sign, saw the salary was less than four figures, took the elevator, and left. The new hire who didn't return on the second day because, at his departure time, he was asked "you're leaving already?" while others continued working for free. The one who rejected the offer upon discovering the conditions were the same as his current ones.

With this backdrop, the temptation is to predict that 'ghosting' will become institutionalized in both directions, and companies will eventually pay for the transparency they've long withheld. Perhaps. Or perhaps the market will split in two: those who can choose, and those who continue waiting for a call that never comes.