With 49 years in business, we are in a unique position to see the picture from both the employer and employee perspective. Besides being advisors/confidants to both parties, we use our point of view to collect and analyse data to better influence our decision-making process in the future.

One such example, we have decided to share, comes from data collected in 2022 through candidate and client feedback – The Main Reasons for Drop-Outs.

What constitutes a Drop-Out?

A drop-out is any candidate who accepts an offer of employment and changes their mind before commencement or a candidate who leaves employment within the first 6 months.

Diving into Why

Let’s first reflect on the most spoken-about phenomenon in the hiring world. If you’ve been on the receiving end of the dreaded “ghosting” process, rest assured, you’re not alone. A total of 6.1% of the drop-outs registered in 2022 fell into the aptly named “ghosted” category. While nothing can be done about “ghosting”, we can use other data to better understand the employer-candidate market.

Going from the top down - the highest percentage of candidates (19.2%) said they were changing their minds to accept a different role or stay with their current employer.

They were followed by 13.1% who listed reasons that fell into the “Family/Partner” category, and 12.1% who stated “Salary” as the reason they changed their minds.

If we take a look at the above, the 19.2% falling into the accepting a different role/staying with current employer category indicated just how competitive the market was becoming. And that proved correct in 2023 when the number of jobs surpassed the number of candidates on the market. It also hinted at a future where the candidates are becoming more strategic in their job search and more at ease in utilising multiple offers to leverage better outcomes for themselves.

Other notable inclusions included:

• Accommodation availability - 5%
• Role-specific reasons - 5%
• Not getting along with the manager - 3%

Only 1.01% of all drop-outs in 2022 fell into the “Declined without reason” category.

Expectations for tomorrow backed by current insights

When it comes to accommodation availability, it will be interesting to see what the yearly analysis for 2023 will show us as the current trends hint at a significant increase in its relevance.

To illustrate, we recently approached 40+ people for a very senior position with great benefits and with a reputable employer; salary – 6 figures. Almost 50% of candidates wouldn’t even consider the role solely on account of how difficult it is to secure accommodation. And we’re not even talking about Dublin, Cork, or Galway area, or somewhere too remote – just a regular town in Ireland.

Key Take-Aways

With the market as competitive as it is, several things have proven useful in tackling today’s challenges:

• Really getting to know your candidate both as a potential employee and a person has never been more important. Getting to know the likes and dislikes, personality and hobbies, and most importantly understanding the mindset minimizes the chances of being surprised later in the hiring process.
• Transparent and timely communication is the KEY to success. This only works if it’s on both ends.
• WOW factor matters. Candidates have more offers to choose from than ever before; everything you can offer matters.

The biggest opponent to unwanted surprises is research, research, research, and that’s why we pride ourselves on digging deep and really getting to know candidates during the selection process.

Through careful employer branding, transparent communication on both sides and really digging deep when pre-screening a candidate, we ensure your drop-out numbers are at the lowest possible point.

And, with a steady drop in percentage of drop-outs year on year, we can proudly say we apply what we’ve learned, and continuously improve the recruitment journey for both our clients and candidates.

If you need assistance filling Executive roles, get in touch with us today.

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