For companies that want to hire talented people quickly, having their mid-career candidates turned down is a headache as the labor shortage continues. Recently, En Japan Inc. conducted a survey on the topic of “declined selections” in their job-hunting activities, and the results have been made public.
*Survey period: May 29-June 27, 2023; number of valid responses: 8,622
◆61% of respondents have turned down a selection. Those who have turned down two or more companies accounted for 63%.
When asked the question, “Have you ever turned down a job offer in your job search?” 61% of respondents answered “Yes,” up 5 points from the same survey conducted last year in 2022.
When those who had turned down a selection were asked how many companies they had turned down, 37% said one company, and 63% said two or more companies (breakdown: 2 companies: 28%, 3 companies: 16%, 4 companies: 5%, 5 companies: 5%, 6 to 9 companies: 4%, 10 or more companies: 5%).
Regarding the timing of the declination, 46% of the respondents declined “before” and 45% “after” the interview, while 37% declined “after” the job offer was obtained.
◆The most common reason given for declining was “passed the selection process of other companies” before the interview, and “the story was different from the job information” after the interview.
The most common reason given for declining selection before the interview was that “passed the selection process of other companies” (37%), followed by “I read a bad online review” (27%) and “the company I applied to was not responsive.” (20%).
The most common reason for declining selection after the interview was “the story was different from the job information” at 49%, while ” passed the selection process of other companies” was second at 35%.
The top two reasons for declining a job offer after receiving it were “passed the selection process of other companies” and “the conditions offered were not good enough” at 44% each.
Reasons for declining a job, such as “the story was different from the job information” or “the company I applied to was not responsive” may not be immediately illegal, but they are a major problem that undermines a company’s credibility. Companies should also be aware that word of mouth on the Internet has become one of the factors used by job seekers to select a new employer.
