Analysis
By s1jobs
Recruiters say the current UK labour market is one of the tightest they’ve ever seen, but the thousands upon thousands of jobseekers who have failed to receive any response to their applications could be forgiven for dismissing such headlines as fake news.
Although the shameful practice of ignoring unsuccessful applicants is nothing new, logic dictates that widespread labour shortages since the re-opening of the economy from lockdown would have forced employers to finally up their game. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to be the case.
A recent survey by Reed of more than 2,000 workers found that 24 per cent received no response to at least one application submitted during the pandemic. Given the intensity of competition for skills, that’s a rather staggering figure.
In addition, many who did receive responses only did so after a lengthy wait. Nearly one in five were left hanging for more than a fortnight before getting any feedback.
Everyone in recruitment and human resources should by now know the damage created by a bad candidate experience. Almost a third polled by Reed were unlikely to apply again to a company after a negative encounter, and the same again were unlikely to recommend that company to a friend.
There is of course the problem of job listings that unleash a tsunami of applications, many of which in some cases are from workers whose skills only barely align with the job requirements. Wading through these is frustrating and time-consuming, yet technology can streamline the process to keep headaches to a minimum during the first wave of candidate responses.
Applicants naturally crave details on why they were unsuccessful, but a timely standardised response is still far better than a wall of silence.
READ MORE: Sexual harassment dodgers take Russian roulette risks
As Kate Palmer, associate director at employment law consultancy Peninsula, put it: “While workers may be disappointed with the decision, the contact means they will be more likely to apply for jobs with the same organisation again in the future, and encourage their friends to do so as well.”
There are also potential legal pitfalls to consider, which is why it is important to explain the process to applicants in advance. In the absence of this – and with no visible communication as to why a particular candidate was unsuccessful – employers could leave themselves open to claims of discrimination.
That said, it’s a disgrace that some organisations need legal strictures before they will do the right thing. If members of staff later turn disaffected, it should come as no surprise.
Search the latest jobs in Scotland at s1jobs.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here