The Hiring Quagmire In Tech

A slightly worrisome trend is emerging from the tech world and it has to do with the future of the American tech worker.

These employees could pose quite a conundrum to tech companies in the near future that could drastically affect the results they desire.

Something needs to change or there could be many open gaps that cannot be filled.

As the baby boomers age out of the job market and are replaced, it’s not necessarily the Millennial generation that is the big problem, it’s Gen Z.

Gen Z is more or less having a hard time committing to even an interview based on fresh data from digital recruitment sites.

As tech companies vow to make leanness mandatory, this doesn’t bode well for the volume of tech hiring for Gen Z who are in their 20s.

Remember when friends of friends could get Facebook management jobs only to sip on lattes all day at the in-house coffee bar, well, that job doesn’t exist anymore because even Facebook is ridding itself of the slack. Those jobs were mainly dominated by Millennials up until the pandemic and have vanished with the pressure of higher inflation.

No more hiring to make it look like tech companies are bigger than they are. Tech firms can’t afford it anymore.

Results matter now and the up-and-coming generation who were extremely coddled as teenagers are having a hard time coming to terms with reality.

Now Gen Z is treating their would-be employers like bad first dates and not showing up for scheduled job interviews or even their first day on the job without as much as a phone call.

Employment website Indeed found that job ghosting is rampant by Gen Z, with 75% of workers saying they’ve ignored a prospective employer in the past year.

A head-spinning 93% of Gen Zers told the global recruitment platform that they’ve flaked out of an interview.

Worse still, a staggering 87% managed to charm their way through interviews, secure the job, and sign the contract, only to leave their new boss stranded on the very first day.

Unsurprisingly, it’s having the opposite effect on businesses left high and dry: More than half of businesses surveyed have said that ghosting has made hiring a harder and costlier process.

Almost half of those surveyed said they plan on pulling a disappearing act again, with a third deeming it acceptable to do so before an interview.

However, unlike Gen Z who feel emboldened, older workers say they instantly regret it.

What’s more, while more than half of Gen Zers are repeat offenders, the researchers found that a candidate’s likelihood to ghost again decreases with age.

For many employers, Indeed’s data will finally confirm their suspicions that Gen Z has commitment issues.

Indeed found that the cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated ghosting, with around 40% of those surveyed admitting that they're more likely to ghost if they find a job offering better pay or a cheaper commute.

Tech companies are in a race against time to automate using AI, because dipping into the Gen Z talent pool could be not being able to fill staff numbers.

Even if Gen Z employees do get hired, they do tend to disappear without a trace quite quickly.

Either way, tech companies will need to find a solution for a young US workforce that isn’t Silicon Valley material.

AI is arriving at just the right time to save their bacon.