It’s Baaaack: Candidate Resentment Increases Globally

That headline may be a bit misleading, as candidate resentment never really went away.

It did dip in the months immediately following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when job seekers were more sympathetic toward employers struggling with an unprecedented set of business and people challenges. But Talent Board’s newest candidate experience benchmark research shows that dip was short lived: for the second year in a row, candidate resentment (a measure of how negatively job seekers rate their candidate experiences) has risen around the world, specifically in the regions of EMEA, APAC, and Latin America, where Talent Board conducts its research.

In EMEA, resentment rose 10%; in APAC, it rose 17%; and in Latin America, it was up 100%. The only region where candidate resentment didn’t rise in 2022 was North America, where resentment rates dropped by 14% (although still historically high at 12% overall).

What’s Driving Resentment?

Candidate resentment is a worrying statistic for several reasons. It not only indicates candidates’ dissatisfaction with their job seeking experiences, but it also indicates their intentions to take their job searches, alliances, product purchases, and business relationships to other companies. In other words, candidate resentment has a devastating impact on a company’s ability to compete for talent as well as its reputation and bottom line.

In general, the global surge in resentment is most likely due to less transparency among employers (who were far more communicative and open during the early days of the pandemic) along with a volatile talent market for much of 2021 and 2022. In the U.S., that volatility resulted, in part, due to literally millions of workers leaving their jobs because of issues around pay and benefits, safety concerns, lack of advancement opportunities, burnout, and more. Many of these workers have yet to return to the workforce — and the U.S. isn’t alone in dealing with these issues or the talent gaps they’ve created.

More specifically, when we look at the regions where resentment has risen, we see very particular reasons for both negative sentiment and for individuals to voluntarily withdraw from the candidate experience. Region by region, the top three reasons were:

In EMEA

1. Salary didn’t meet expectations.
2. The recruiting process took too long.
3. The candidate’s time was disrespected during the recruiting process.

In APAC

1. The recruiting process took too long.
2. The candidate’s time was disrespected during the recruiting process.
3. There was a difference between the posted job description and how it was. presented during the interview.

In Latin America

1. The candidate’s time was disrespected during the recruiting process.
2. The recruiting process took too long.
3. There was a difference between the posted job description and how it was presented during the interview.

A candidate’s time being disrespected during the recruiting process (especially in relation to interviews and appointments) is typically the number one trend only in North America. This year it was number one in Latin America, too.

In North America, the top three reasons for negative sentiment and withdrawal from the candidate experience were:

1. The candidate’s time was disrespected during the recruiting process.
2. Salary didn’t meet expectations.
3. The recruiting process took too long.

As I noted in my resentment-related post last year, this couldn’t be happening at a worse time—and that still holds true. Near-record numbers of jobs remain open. Nearly half of all workers plan to quit their jobs in 2023. And analysts predict that by 2030, 85 million jobs could go unfilled.

Allowing resentment rates to go unchecked isn’t going to help our talent strategies or our shortfalls. Just the opposite. Employers should be restoring the heightened levels of transparency, openness, and communication they achieved just after the pandemic began.

I’ll be sharing a series of posts covering the rest of our 10 Key Takeaways from our new 2022 Research Report in the weeks ahead, so be sure to check back for those insights into the candidate experience and how to improve it.

Be safe and well.