Recruiter ‘Ghosting’: Understanding the Bigger Picture Behind a System Under Strain

The Systemic Issues Behind The ‘Ghosting’ Trend

I’ve seen a lot of angry posts lately about recruiter “ghosting” and how frustrating it is. It’s an incredibly tough market right now, but before we rush to judgment, let’s pause and take a closer look at this issue.

For those who aren’t familiar, recruiter “ghosting” refers to situations where candidates apply for a job, sometimes even going through interviews, but then never hear back from the recruiter or company—leaving them in the dark about their status. It’s been an issue for a long time, but right now, it seems to be happening more than ever.

The Bigger Picture

We humans naturally gravitate toward stories—often framing things in black and white, “heroes vs. villains,” “us vs. them.” But the underlying reality is rarely that simple. In this business ecosystem—the employment market—recruiters, candidates, and companies are all interconnected. We’re like fish in the same ocean, navigating the currents, each influencing and being influenced by the other. It’s the ocean itself—the waves, the tides, the larger forces like the economy, regulation and geopolitics—that shape how we move and where we collectively end up.

While I wholeheartedly agree that anyone taking the time to apply for a job deserves feedback on their application, I don’t think it’s fair to solely blame recruiters for the current issues.

I’m not saying that bad recruiters should get a free pass. I’ve been in talent acquisition for nearly 20 years, and I care immensely about creating positive candidate experiences. It’s been one of the foundational cornerstones of my career. Have I met recruiters who were careless, unskilled, or indifferent over the years? Yes, like any industry, there are a range of abilities, aptitudes, and attitudes. However, most of the recruiters I know are dedicated, hardworking people who genuinely care about providing a positive experience for every candidate they engage with.

The hidden truth that you don’t often see is that your recruiter is generally the only person going to bat for you against a business that’s completely indifferent to whether you have a mortgage to pay at the end of the month.

The Real Issue

The real problem here is a systemic one:

• When the economy tightens, businesses often cut recruiting teams first. It’s a short-sighted approach—no growth, no need for Talent Acquisition. Right now, thousands of talented TA professionals are on the market after being made redundant.

• The result? Recruitment teams are smaller, but the pressure is greater than ever. They’re managing unthinkable numbers of applicants for every role, all while trying to meet business goals and deadlines with fewer resources.

• The remaining recruiters are overworked and understandably worried: “Am I next up for redundancy?”. To try and stay employed, they work even harder to support the company’s goals.

• Let’s not kid ourselves: despite all the talk of culture and values, businesses are commercial entities first and foremost. This means that they don’t really care about candidate experience. On a fundamental level, businesses care about two things: profit and growth. Companies need these two things to survive, so everything they do serves one or both of these purposes. The only reason a business invests in a positive candidate experience is that it often aligns with its strategic goals. Treating potential employees well supports the future of the business and helps it scale and stay competitive.

• From a business perspective, recruitment is just another process. The care and empathy in the recruitment process comes from the people within it—the recruiters, hiring managers, interviewers, and HR professionals—who see the human side of hiring. But right now, many of them are overworked, at risk of redundancy, or have already been let go.

• As redundancies continue across various sectors, the problem worsens. Candidate numbers keep rising, recruiter numbers keep falling, and there are fewer and fewer people to support the candidate journey. The cycle repeats, and the strain grows heavier until things start visibly breaking—which is where we are right now.

Shifting Focus

Getting mad at recruiters for the problems in the current job market is like swearing at your PC because your internet speed is slow. We all do it, but it really doesn’t help.

The PC manages the connection, but it doesn’t control the quality of the signal coming into your house. Similarly, recruiters are trying to manage the flow, but the real issue lies in the larger infrastructure—the economy and the evolving market—that are causing the bottlenecks.

So, before we direct our frustration squarely at recruiters, let’s take a step back and recognise a fundamental truth: the labels we give each other aren't helpful and don’t really matter. Whether you’re a candidate, recruiter, hiring manager, or interviewer (and it’s possible to be all four at the same time!), you’re part of the same system… and it’s the system that’s broken, not the person you’re dealing with.

The recruiter who didn’t get back to you? They might be covering for multiple colleagues who were laid off or simply trying to keep up in a role that’s become overwhelmingly demanding. They’re probably just as concerned about their own future as you are about yours.

We’re all just doing the best job we can. And, for good or for ill, we’re in this together.

It’s set to be a long journey, and it will affect each of us differently, but it will impact us all. However, if we can start to call out the problem for what it is—a systemic challenge rather than a human-to-human issue—we might find more patience, empathy, and understanding for one another as we try to move forward.

And, when we get frustrated, let’s direct it to the systems that are failing us, not to the people treading water alongside us. Change won’t come from pointing fingers; it will come from us collectively understanding, highlighting, and addressing the real problems at their roots.