Welcome to “The Most Interesting Recruiting Stories of the Week,” a weekly post that features talent acquisition insights and information from around the web to kick off your weekend. Here’s what’s of interest this week:

Top Articles to Read Now

Tech Companies Face a Fresh Crisis: Hiring

“Recruiters working in technology these days do not receive candy, flowers, or thank-yous. The recruiter is lucky if she can get someone on the phone — if she receives so much as an email in response. Technology workers need court no one: Along with microchips, toilet paper and Covid tests, tech workers will be recalled as one of the great, pressing shortages of this pandemic.”

Apple Hides Job Titles of Ex-Employees

“#AppleToo organizer Cher Scarlett says she failed to get a new job because Apple unilaterally changes ex-employees’ job titles, meaning her resume no longer tallied with Apple’s records…According to The Washington Post, once someone leaves the company, Apple revises the public record of their job title. Regardless of their actual job title while employed, Apple reportedly changes it always and only read ‘Associate.'”

92% of People Never Finish Online Job Applications

“Barriers in the online job application process have always been a problem, and while research shows that candidate abandonment is still staggeringly high, a recent audit of the Fortune 500 returned some interesting data points: Job application flow has improved, but there are still too many steps involved in getting applicants to the finish line.”

National Retailer Allegedly Refused to Hire Women in Sales or Warehouse Jobs

“The EEOC’s complaint alleged that managers discarded job applications submitted by women. It also alleged managers made a number of comments that showed their hiring decisions were tainted with bias and sex stereotyping. For example, it alleged that women would not ‘do as great a job at selling furniture as men,’ could not work in the warehouse because ‘women can’t lift,’ and female employees would be ‘a distraction’ to male employees. Some of the company’s stores hired no women for sales or warehouse jobs during many of the years covered by the lawsuit, the agency charged.”

U.S. Army Shuts Down Recruitment Video Game After 20 Years

“Twenty years ago, the U.S. Army tried something that was revolutionary at the time…While it might be facing a very honorable discharge, America’s Army was an idea that was ahead of its time in a lot of ways. And it blazed a trail for a new type of recruiting that’s still being used today.”

Skills-Based Hiring Is on the Rise

“Two decades ago, companies began adding degree requirements to job descriptions, even though the jobs themselves hadn’t changed. After the Great Recession, many organizations began trying to back away from those requirements. To learn how the effort is going, the authors studied more than 50 million recent job announcements. The bottom line: Many companies are moving away from degree requirements and toward skills-based hiring, especially in middle-skill jobs, which good for both workers and employers. But more work remains to be done.”

Dear Hiring Manager: Perhaps You Should Write the Thank-You Note

“A job interview should be a two-way street. The hiring manager and the job candidate both have a problem and the relationship should be one of mutual exploration to figure out if you can solve each others’ problems. The job interview should be a whole bunch more back and forth and a lot less deference to the hiring manager. When managers expect thank-you notes — or even punish candidates who don’t send them — it’s an indication that they see themselves as the benevolent ones. They aren’t.”

What We Lose When Work Gets Too Casual

“On the surface…remote work appears to give workers more freedom to do their work wherever and whenever they choose. But even though employees may feel more productive when they work from home, we may just be working more, not more efficiently. A 2020 Harvard Business School study of digital communications across almost 21,500 companies found that the average workday increased by 8.2 percent during the early weeks of pandemic lockdowns.”

The Collision of Pay Negotiation With Recruiter Responsibility and Authority

“If you’re in recruiting and have a social media account, you probably read about the recruiter who posted about making a lowball offer to a candidate because the candidate didn’t ask for more…What interests me in this whole conversation are two core themes: What is the recruiter’s responsibility to the candidate when discussing pay? What is the recruiter’s authority to address pay equity in the hiring process?”

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Join the conversation about all things talent acquisition in the ERE Facebook Group. It’s a great venue to gain information, support, and network with fellow peers. We’re talking about some of the stories above, as well as other hot recruiting topics, so come share your own views in the ERE Facebook Group. We’d love to see you there!

Additionally, got questions? Feedback on a story? Or want to pitch a story idea? Get in touch with ERE editor Vadim Liberman at vadim@ere.net.

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