Three-quarters of Gen Z candidates have dropped out of a job application they were interested in because of poor hiring processes, according to a new survey from Bullhorn, the cloud computing company that helps staffing and recruiting organizations transform their businesses.
With employers struggling to fill soaring job vacancies, and Gen Z employees forecast to comprise 27% of the global labour force by 2025, the findings are both timely and significant.
The most common reason cited for giving up on a potential job application was receiving a better opportunity while waiting for the other hiring process to finish (31%).
This was followed by a general lack of communication from the recruiter (17%), along with the process simply taking too long (14%) or being too complicated (13%). Notably, fewer Gen Z applicants (12%) gave concerns over salary and benefits as a reason.
Overall, the majority (85%) concur that the entire job search and placement process is outdated, resulting in two out of five abandoning an opportunity between application and interview, and one in three giving up before even submitting an application.
While 95% agree that working with recruitment firms will help them to land a better job, two out of five feel their school, college, or university has not adequately prepared them for their job search.
The survey also suggests that Gen Z candidates are aware of their marketability and expect to move from job to job in their early careers. Two-thirds (67%) plan to stay with their first employer for under three years, while just 12% will stick around for more than five years.
Andre Mileti, Product Evangelist, Talent Experience at Bullhorn, said, “Work has become commoditized for younger generations, and enjoying a consumer-grade experience throughout the entire hiring journey has become just as important as the work itself.
“Talent is abandoning job applications and interviews at the same rate they abandon online shopping carts in search of a better deal, or faster shipping. They apply to numerous jobs in the time it took earlier generations to find and apply to one.
“As a result, if you don’t invest in a mix of modern digital marketing, recruitment, and user experience best practices, you’ll have a hard time attracting, engaging, and retaining digitally native talent. If the job application process is not as easy as scrolling through Instagram, you will lose.
“Simply taking antiquated methods of hiring and placing talent and bringing them online will not suffice. New business processes and technologies focused on talent experience and automation must be forged.”
Sagar Bhardwaj, Procurement Heads’ Head of Practice – Consumer, said, “Regardless of whether a candidate falls in the Gen Z bracket or not, a slick and well-structured recruitment process is imperative.
“With procurement and supply chain talent at such a high premium, the best candidates, whether applying for entry-level roles or at the very senior end of the profession, are in such great demand that anything that delays the hiring process increases the risk of the candidate withdrawing or accepting another opportunity.
“Across Procurement Heads we partner with businesses to advise them on the best way to structure their hiring process to mitigate against the risk of losing the ideal candidate.”
Bullhorn surveyed 1,000 Generation Z candidates based in North America throughout Summer 2022. Read the complete findings here.
