More People Are Ghosting Employment Opportunities

“Ghosting” used to be a term limited to the dating scene. When your love interest stops responding to texts and calls and disappears, you’ve been ghosted. But now, the rude trend is expanding to potential employees, who fail to show up to interviews or even the first day of work after accepting an offer.

“Experts are using the term ghosting to describe a rise in applicants they say are either not showing up for interviews or work after an offer. Jim’s Steaks on South Street is not only experiencing that but what the owner likes to call ‘heartbeats,'” CBS Philadelphia reported. “’They will start on a Tuesday, work Wednesday and we will never see them again,’ Jim Steak’s president Ken Silver said. “You spend a couple of days training people, come Saturday night, you have a line out the door and you don’t have people working.”

But this inconsiderate behavior isn’t limited to the service industry or low-wage job. After years of sluggish growth, the economy is gaining steam–and that means for the first time in many years, people are getting multiple job offers. Instead of contacting the potential employer to let them know they’ve decided to work elsewhere, recruits are simply pulling a disappearing act.

It might seem easier to “ghost” an employer, but experts are warning workers against burning professional bridges.

“No one likes delivering bad news…But experts say it’s up to both sides to improve communication,” CBS Philly reported. “You never know when you’re going to need that connection back.”