Workers are ghosting their employers like bad dates

Workers are ghosting(ˈgōstiNG) their employers(əmˈploiər) like bad dates

By Danielle Paquette

Economists(əˈkänəməst) report that workers are starting to act like millennials(miˈlenēəl) on Tinder(ˈtindər): They’re ditching(diCH) jobs with nary(ˈne(ə)rē) a text.

“A number of contacts(ˈkänˌtakt) said that they had been ‘ghosted,’ a situation in which a worker stops coming to work without notice and then is impossible to contact,” the Federal(ˈfed(ə)rəl) Reserve(riˈzərv) Bank of Chicago(-ˈkägō,SHiˈkôgō) noted in December’s Beige(bāZH) Book, which tracks employment(əmˈploimənt) trends(trend).

National data on economic(ˌekəˈnämik,ˌēkə-) “ghosting” is lacking(ˈlakiNG). The term, which usually applies(əˈplī) to dating, first surfaced(ˈsərfis) in 2016 on Dictionary(ˈdikSHəˌnerē).com. But companies across the country say silent(ˈsīlənt) exits(ˈeɡzət, ˈeksət) are on the rise(rīz).

Analysts(ˈanələst) blame(blām) America’s increasingly(iNG-,inˈkrēsiNGlē) tight(tīt) labor(ˈlābər) market. Job openings have surpassed(sərˈpas) the number of seekers for eight straight(strāt) months, and the unemployment(ˌənəmˈploimənt) rate(rāt) has clung(kləNG) to a 49-year low of 3.7 percent since September.

Janitors(ˈjanədər), baristas(bəˈrēstə), welders(ˈweldər), accountants(əˈkount(ə)nt), engineers(ˌenjəˈni(ə)r) — they’re all in demand(dəˈmand), said Michael Hicks(hik), a labor economist(əˈkänəməst) at Ball(bôl) State University in Indiana(ˌindēˈanə). More people may opt(äpt) to skip tough(təf) conversations(ˌkänvərˈsāSHən) and slide(slīd) right into the next thing.

“Why hassle(ˈhasəl) with a boss(bäs,bôs) and a bunch of out-processing,” he said, “when literally(ˈlidərəlē, ˈlitrəlē) everyone has been hiring?”

Recruiters(rəˈkro͞odər) at global(ˈglōbəl) staffing(staf) firm Robert(ˈräbərt) Half have noticed a “ten to twenty percent increase” in ghosting over the past year, D.C. district(ˈdistrikt) president Josh(jäSH) Howarth said.

Applicants(ˈapləkənt) blow(blō) off interviews. New hires(hīr) turn into no-shows. Workers leave one evening and never return.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/12/workers-are-ghosting-their-employers-like-bad-dates/