The predictions for 2025 doing the rounds in HR circles are big on the inexorable advance of artificial intelligence, the retreat of DEI programmes, the effects of the ageing workforce, and skills gaps. But one trend making waves seems to have escaped the attention of the global consultancies: the failure to turn up at work.
“Career catfishing” or “ghosting” is primarily the sport of young people, though surveys are beginning to spot its spread to older segments of the workforce.
Earlier this month a report by UK firm CVGenius found that 34% of Generation Z workers do not attend work on the first day, or indeed any subsequent day, and without so much as an email of explanation.
Yakov Filippenko, CEO and founder of Intch, a platform that connects part-time professionals with flexible roles, says the phenomenon is just one facet of an increasingly chaotic recruitment scenario: “Back in the early days of my career about 15 years ago, my dad once told me he’d never hire me. Like many millennials, I changed jobs every year or so, which completely clashed with his ideas of what made a ‘good’ employee.
“Fast forward to today, and I find myself in a similar position to his back then. Except now, what’s happening with Gen Z and their approach to work is pure chaos.”
The influence of social media, he says, is obvious: “If, like me, you didn’t take the memes seriously, well, the joke’s on us – they’ve become reality. Work itself has turned into a meme, and Gen Z treats it that way.”
Honestly, it’s hard to tell if the push to return to offices is about maintaining control or just getting a front-row seat to the circus” – Yakov Filippenko, Intch
However, issues such as returning to offices will remain a source of conflict for the foreseeable future. “Workplaces, where different generations collide, have become even more of a battleground,” he says. “Honestly, it’s hard to tell if the push to return to offices is about maintaining control or just getting a front-row seat to the circus.”
Younger people have a completely different perspective on office working to older people, Filippenko says, a view that is supported by the CVGenius survey, which finds that 53% of younger workers say they would choose to work remotely over in-office, even if it means no chance of promotion or higher pay.
Other commentators have suggested that the catfishing trend is a reaction to poor recruitment practices. The CVGenius researchers refer to the protracted and frustrating job hunting process – which often includes submitting dozens of lengthy applications, endless rounds of interviews and the long wait for updates from sluggish hiring managers. Younger people could see catfishing as a way of showing that they have power too, after the somewhat demeaning recruitment process.
GenZers often say their ghosting is in reaction to the company’s behaviour. Another online CV firm, Resume Genius, says its research reveals almost 80% of hiring managers stopped responding to candidates during the application process.
The situation is actually quite logical, writes Chloe Berger in Fortune: “At the moment, Gen Z is contending with an onerous battle to land an entry-level, full-time role. The class of 2025 is set to apply to more jobs than the graduating class prior, already submitting 24% more applications on average this past summer than seniors did last year.”
According to job platform Handshake, 2024 graduates in the US applied to 64% more jobs than the cohort before them, with the number of job listings dwindling from 2023 levels, generating greater competition for the roles listed. Throw in worries over student loan debts and it’s not hard to understand why Gen Z candidates are failing to express eternal gratitude for the job offers that may come their way.
Correspondingly, one in four executives say they wouldn’t hire today’s entry-level candidates – according to a report from technology education provider General Assembly – with only 12% of executives believing that entry-level workers in the US are prepared to join the workforce.
Jourdan Hathaway, General Assembly’s chief business officer, writes: “The entry-level employee pipeline is broken. Companies must rethink how they source, train, and onboard employees.”
Research also suggests that 24% of millennials, those aged from 28 to 43, have engaged in career catfishing, too, and are perhaps prioritising their personal needs over the demands of corporate culture.
With AI now screening candidates and beginning to change how people work there may be a certain lack of human warmth in the recruitment process that lends itself to ghosting. But ultimately young people still need incomes and culture conflicts will have to be resolved as they settle into jobs.
As Filippenko says: “Unless GenAI swoops in to save the day, they’ll have to figure out how to meet in the middle eventually.”
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