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Hiring managers ditch shortlists to stem falling acceptance rates

Candidates are increasingly 'ghosting' recruiters, as they fail to turn up to interviews, assessments and even jobs as acceptance rates fall and recruiters' workloads continue to rise, an industry analyst says.

Pre-COVID, 97% of candidates were accepting roles offered to them, says PageUp head of customer insights Rebecca Skilbeck.

"That's fallen to 95%," she tells Shortlist, and marks a 66% increase in the likelihood that a candidate will reject an offer.

"That change in offer acceptance rate is really impactful to organisations," says Skilbeck, who notes an increase in ghosting from candidates, especially in high-volume roles where they are applying for multiple roles.

Previously it was recruiters who were criticised for poor treatment of candidates but there has been somewhat of a reversal, she says...