
Career Builder's CEO: Young people are 'ghosting' employers - smaili
https://www.yahoo.com/money/career-builders-ceo-gen-z-workforce-181045113.html
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dangus
It’s not ghosting, it’s called quitting.

When you work for a soulless corporate machine, it makes no difference whether
you tell your manager. They would take the same actions whether you gave
notice or not. Giving them the satisfaction of hearing out your reasoning is
kind of like putting in unpaid work.

I fully realize that this is highly cynical, but, on the other hand, not
everyone works for a soulless machine. I suspect that those who “ghost” are
largely working for the soulless companies who have not even enough common
decency to qualify for an explanation.

When a company terminates employment, do they have to provide explanation or
notice? Nope! But they sure don’t get accused of “ghosting” in stupid ass PR
articles.

~~~
getlawgdon
It's not called "quitting", it's called "having a weak ethical compass and low
personal standard for behavior". And I disagree with the rest of your ideas,
too.

~~~
brailsafe
I think under reasonable circumstances, it's probably a dick move to bail on a
company with no notice that actually treated you well. It seems to me however
a perfectly ethical action to not place your mental health or well-being at
the behest of what the parent here so accurately described as a soulless
corporate machine that treated you like garbage. If you want or need to get
out, then get out.

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staticautomatic
I once worked at a place where everyone who did the job I did understood it
was shitty, and our superiors understood it was shitty. On a fairly regular
basis, a new hire would go out to lunch during their first week and never come
back. No one batted an eye.

If you are shocked at a new hire ghosting you, it might be because:

A) You didn't realize their job was shitty

B) You didn't realize your workplace is shitty

C) You knew that their job and/or workplace was shitty but didn't think anyone
would have the courage to just fucking leave

D) You knew that their job and/or workplace was shitty but you thought someone
you hired into that role/environment anyway owed you the courtesy of giving
you a heads up before they just fucking left

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downerending
On the flip side, not so long ago I gave the asked-for two weeks' notice at a
corporate job, and they set an end date at one week. No comp for the second.

Obviously, I'll think long and hard about giving any notice in the future,
even at a FAANG-level job.

~~~
brailsafe
Set the place on fire and never look back. In retrospect, I totally agree.

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denkmoon
If you can't be bothered to treat me like a human being, why should I not
treat you the same?

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xemdetia
I wish this data was sliced down better into full time and part time work
and/or hourly and exempt jobs. I feel there are more 'bad part time' jobs now
than in years past that don't allow someone to give appropriate notice without
reprisal.

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RickS
When the friction/anxiety cost of explaining your exit is higher than the cost
of ghosting, you get ghosts.

It seems the pressures that used to deter this behavior have fallen away, and
ghosting is effectively free at the individual level (I'd guess that it's
expensive at the societal level).

Labor and dating markets have bottomed out the cost to try new engagements,
and since everyone recognizes this, they invest less in each one.

Feels like a chicken an egg problem. It doesn't make sense to train employees
that will ghost you after they're certified, but it doesn't make sense to
dedicatee yourself to an employer that treats you like a flight risk. Nobody
tries hard because nobody else is trying hard.

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joezydeco
Hey there, Ms Career Builder CEO! Want to hear a funny story?

I found an interesting job on your site, so I followed the links and applied
directly with the target company.

They finally got back to me: _62 days later_.

Cry me a fucking river about ghosting. Clean your own house first.

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listenallyall
Any company that's highly upset about "ghosters" (and has had it happen
multiple times) should consider how it treats applicants. Does it respond to
every single application that's submitted?

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xiphias2
Companies could add anti-ghosting clauses, like an employee needs to give at
least 1 day written notice even for the trial period. In that case if he
starts working at another company on the same day when he was expected, he can
be sued for damages.

~~~
geofft
I support this, because it's a good indicator of what jobs not to take.

In our non-post-scarcity society, the vast majority of people don't leave jobs
simply because they are bad, they leave them _because they expect to find
something better_. So the problem is that better employers exist and you're
not one of them.

(Also, give your one-day notice and then take a sick day.)

~~~
xiphias2
Ghosting means that the employee goes to another job, because he prefers that,
but doesn't tell the first one about it, in case he changes his mind. It's
about not making a decision even after signing the contract.

I'm not an employer, but in my dating life I had a girlfriend who was 20
minutes late on her first date. After we got together, a few weeks later she
told me that actually she was late because she put another date with another
guy at exactly the same time as with me, just she didn't like him in real
life.

I had much worse ghosting situations as well, when a girl didn't show up, and
didn't even answer my texts/calls.

Be happy if you don't know the meaning of the word.

I'd be interested to know how you would handle a baby sitter (who was very
nice before) not showing up and not returning your texts/calls when you have a
child and you need to go to a business meeting or to theatre for example.

~~~
geofft
> _I 'd be interested to know how you would handle a baby sitter (who was very
> nice before) not showing up and not returning your texts/calls when you have
> a child and you need to go to a business meeting or to theatre for example._

Presumably the same way I'd handle a babysitter who called me ten minutes
before they're supposed to show up saying they got in a car accident.

Actually, probably differently - I can't meaningfully control car accidents
but I can pay my babysitter more / figure out what they need to be happier.

