Let me tell you my favorite recruiting plot twist of 2025: Companies spent decades ghosting candidates without a second thought. Then candidates started ghosting them back, and suddenly everyone's clutching their pearls about "professionalism" and "common courtesy."

The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

The Numbers That Make This Delicious

Let's set the scene with some data: 76% of recruiters report being ghosted by candidates in 2025. Meanwhile, 61% of job seekers have been ghosted after a job interview—a nine percentage point increase since early 2024.

But here's the kicker: Eight in 10 hiring managers admit they've ghosted job candidates. EIGHT IN TEN.

So let me get this straight: 80% of hiring managers ghost candidates regularly, then act shocked and betrayed when candidates do it back? That's not a trend. That's karma with a sense of humor.

The Golden Age of Employer Ghosting (2000-2020)

For decades, ghosting candidates was standard operating procedure. The unspoken rules were:

• Applied for a job? You'll hear back if we want you. Otherwise, enjoy the silence.
• Had a phone screen? We'll definitely follow up! (Narrator: They did not follow up.)
• Completed a take-home assignment? Thanks for the free work! We'll be in touch. (No, they won't.)
• Made it to final rounds? You're definitely a top candidate! We'll let you know by Friday. (It's been three months.)

Companies built entire recruiting processes around the assumption that candidate time didn't matter. Five-round interview processes with weeks between each round? Normal. Asking for spec work without compensation? Standard. Never following up after interviews? Just business.

The unofficial motto: "We're the employer. Your time is less valuable than ours. Deal with it."

Enter: The Revenge of the Candidates

Then something shifted. The job market tightened. Candidates realized they had options. And suddenly, they started playing by the same rules employers had established.

Candidate no-shows for interviews jumped from 37% in 2019 to 62% in 2024. That's not a typo. That's a 25 percentage point increase in five years.

44% of candidates now admit to ghosting employers. Not apologetically. Just... doing it. Accepting jobs and not showing up for the first day. Scheduling interviews and vanishing. Engaging in email conversations and then going radio silent.

And recruiters everywhere are losing their minds.

The Complaints Are Chef's Kiss

The best part of this whole saga is watching recruiters and hiring managers complain about candidate ghosting with absolutely zero self-awareness.

Real quotes from actual recruiters in 2025:

"We scheduled an interview and the candidate just... didn't show up. No call, no email, nothing. So disrespectful!"

Hey, remember that time you interviewed 6 candidates for a role, told them all they were "strong contenders," then never followed up with five of them? Yeah, that.

"A candidate accepted our offer, then ghosted us before their start date. We had already turned down other candidates!"

Oh interesting! Remember when companies would post job listings for roles they'd already internally decided to fill, make external candidates interview anyway, then never tell them the job was never actually available? Curious!

"Candidates these days have no professional courtesy. Whatever happened to sending a simple 'I'm no longer interested' email?"

Allow me to consult the archives of every job seeker who applied to 200 jobs and heard back from 3. Those seekers are now asking the same question!

Why Candidates Are Ghosting (And Why It Makes Sense)

The ghosting isn't random. There are actual reasons:

1. The Process Is Impersonal AI tools now let candidates apply to 50 jobs in an hour. They're overwhelmed with interviews, overlapping processes, and competing offers. When everything feels transactional, candidates treat it transactionally.

2. Employers Showed Them How You can't spend 20 years training candidates that ghosting is acceptable employer behavior, then act surprised when they adopt the same approach. Candidates learned from watching you.

3. There's No Real Downside Recruiters love to threaten "you'll never work in this industry again!" when candidates ghost. But realistically? Most candidates ghost because they got a better offer or decided the company wasn't a fit. The "reputation damage" is imaginary.

4. Recruiter Workload Increased 26% Workloads increased 26% in Q4 2024, overwhelming hiring teams. When recruiters are stretched thin, communication suffers on both sides. It's a vicious cycle: Recruiters ghost because they're overwhelmed. Candidates ghost because they feel like numbers. Everybody ghosts.

The Part Where I'm Supposed to Offer Solutions

Look, I get it. Mutual ghosting makes recruiting harder for everyone. So here's the uncomfortable truth: If employers want candidates to stop ghosting, they need to stop ghosting first.

Revolutionary, I know.

Things that would actually help:

For Employers:

• Send rejection emails to every candidate. Yes, even the ones who clearly weren't qualified. It takes 30 seconds with an ATS.
• Update candidates regularly, even when there's no news. "Still reviewing, expect to hear back by X date" is better than silence.
• If you're not interested after an interview, say so within 48 hours. Candidates are planning their lives around your timeline.
• Stop asking for free spec work. If you need work samples, compensate for time.

For Candidates:

• If you're no longer interested, send a one-sentence email. "Thanks, but I'm pursuing other opportunities." Done.
• If you get a better offer and need to back out, give as much notice as possible. Yes, even if the employer ghosted others.
• If you can't make an interview, cancel it. Takes 20 seconds.

The Real Solution: Both sides need to remember that professional courtesy isn't a negotiation. It's a baseline. Just because someone else was rude doesn't mean you should be.

The Uncomfortable Conclusion

Here's what's actually happening: Ghosting has become the industry standard on both sides, and we're all acting like this is surprising. It's not. It's predictable.

For years, employers treated candidates as replaceable and disposable. Now candidates are treating employers the same way. It's not professional. It's not productive. But it's exactly what you'd expect when both sides stop viewing each other as humans and start viewing each other as obstacles.

Candidate ghosting is at 62%. Employer ghosting is at 80%. Everybody's ghosting everybody, and we've somehow convinced ourselves this is fine.

It's not fine. It's chaos masquerading as efficiency.

The Bottom Line

The candidate ghosting "crisis" is just employers experiencing the consequences of their own behavior. You can't normalize ghosting for 20 years, then clutch your pearls when candidates do it back.

Want candidates to stop ghosting? Lead by example. Send rejection emails. Update people on timelines. Treat candidates like humans whose time matters. It's not complicated.

Or keep complaining that candidates are unprofessional while your company ghosts 80% of applicants. Your choice.

The Stats That Tell the Story:

• 80% of hiring managers admit to ghosting candidates
• 76% of recruiters report being ghosted by candidates
• Candidate ghosting jumped from 37% (2019) to 62% (2024)
• 44% of candidates admit to ghosting employers

Karma isn't just a concept. Sometimes it's a 62% ghosting rate coming back to bite you.

Key Takeaways:

• Employers spent decades normalizing ghosting candidates
• Candidates started ghosting back, recruiters shocked
• 80% of hiring managers admit to ghosting vs. 76% experiencing it
• Candidate ghosting jumped from 37% to 62% in five years
• The "professionalism" complaints ring hollow given employer behavior
• Solution: Both sides need to actually communicate like professionals
• Or everyone can keep ghosting and complaining—that's working great