If you are a manager, team leader, supervisor, or anyone else eagerly anticipating adding a new member to your team — but who never shows up — then you are certainly not alone. A new survey by Gartner has revealed that a whopping 50% of job candidates who accepted a job offer backed out prior to day one.

“Competition for talent remains steep – our research shows 59% of HR leaders expect more talent competition in the next three months,” said Jamie Kohn, senior director in the Gartner HR practice. “We are seeing many candidates uncommitted to their new employer and keeping one foot in the job market.”

Statistics on Job Candidates Backing Out of Job Offers

The survey, which polled nearly 3,500 job candidates in May 2023, also found that:

• 35% received four or more offers during their last job search.
• 47% who accepted an offer said they were still open to other job offers after accepting a position.
• 42% who accepted an offer believed they could find a better job if they continued looking.
• 59% said they chose the offer they accepted in part due to greater flexibility in when or where they work. The other top drivers were better work-life balance (45%) and higher compensation (40%).
• 56% said that the experience they have in their job is just as important to their job satisfaction as compensation and benefits.

Reasons Why Job Candidates Back Out of Job Offers

“Nearly 90% of candidates said they have exited a hiring process due to at least one mismatch in employee value proposition preferences,” said Kohn. “This includes compensation and benefits but also things like flexibility in working hours, career pathing, skills development, team diversity, and management style.”

Impact of Salary Transparency on Job Candidates

Salary transparency — or lack thereof — was also a big factor for job candidates:

• 68% said they expect to see salary information in job postings.
• 64% said they are more likely to apply to a job that lists compensation in the description.
• 44% decided not to apply to a job because the job description did not include salary information.

Return to Office Mandates and Job Candidate Decisions

“When it comes to pay transparency and return to office mandates, organizations can either enhance or impede their talent attraction efforts based on the decisions they make,” said Kohn.

A separate survey by ResumeBuilder.com found that 51% of organizations already require some or all employees to work in person and 9 in 10 expect to have office return policies in place by the end of 2024.

Sources

Gartner – Survey Reveals High Rate of Job Candidates Backing Out

ResumeBuilder.com – Impact of Return to Office Mandates on Job Candidates