Job Ghosting: Can We Expect More Accountability From Companies?

In times like this, with massive layoffs and economic uncertainty, many unemployed people have to live some nightmares before they find a job. For me, the hardest part isn’t only the rejection—it’s the waiting, the false momentum, and the feeling that the system is moving without me. I can apply and still feel invisible. I can do everything “right” and still be treated like an afterthought.

That’s where the criticism starts: not with a catchy label, but with the day-to-day emotional cost of recruitment experiences that don’t behave like a real process.

I don’t mean that every hiring team is trying to harm someone. I mean that, in practice, the outcome is the same for too many people: the public vacancy exists, time is spent, hope is built—and then the job seeker is left alone with silence.

The “general info” that matters

A job application isn’t just a click. It’s a stack of invisible labor:

• tailoring a resume
• rewriting cover letters
• preparing for interviews that never come
• adjusting expectations based on whatever the portal tells you
• spending money and energy getting to “opportunities” that never materialize

So when I see employers posting roles without delivering outcomes, I don’t experience it as “a delay.” I experience it as a broken promise of communication. Recruiting is supposed to be a two-way pipeline: employers screen, applicants respond, and there is at least basic closure.

What makes this situation especially painful is that modern platforms often simulate progress:

• automated confirmations
• “we received your application” messages
• candidate portals with statuses that don’t change
• periodic reposting that looks like activity

I get stuck in that gap between system messages and real human decisions. And that gap doesn’t just cost time—it changes how I feel about my own worth.

The fight people have before they find a job

When unemployed, every day has pressure layered on pressure:

• Track deadlines like they’re lifelines.
• Keep checking emails and portals even when tired of being disappointed.
• Avoid telling people the truth too early to avoid sympathy.
• Start to sound like a broken calendar: “Apply again. Wait. Don’t know.”

So when I spend energy applying and then receive nothing, it doesn’t land neutrally. It lands like being paused—again and again—without any explanation.

That’s why the criticism is so intense: it’s not only about “not hearing back.” It’s about how silence turns into daily psychological work.

The specific pattern I keep seeing

Here’s the pattern as I understand it from repeated experiences and what I observe people describing:

I might get a confirmation. I might get an automated sequence. But I don’t get a real outcome. No rejection email that helps me move on. No explanation that lets me interpret what went wrong.

And from the job seeker’s side, no decision feels like an endless stretch of “maybe.” But maybe isn’t a plan—I still need income.

One of the most demoralizing dynamics for me is when the public listing seems to continue even though the position has effectively been absorbed internally.

I’m not upset about internal hiring itself. I’m upset about the mismatch: the company behaves as though external applicants are part of the process, while the external applicants are treated as informational background noise.

If the same position returns every three weeks, I start to infer a cycle: either the process is unstable and no one owns closure, or the vacancy is being maintained as momentum for internal stakeholders or investors; in both cases, the job seeker is bearing the cost. I keep applying into a loop that doesn’t behave like a genuine recruitment funnel with an end point.

When companies ask me to follow them on social networks and then send spam-style emails after I applied, I feel the shift clearly: hiring turns into promotion.

Why this is becoming structural

My frustration isn’t just personal disappointment. It’s the recognition that recruitment silence can become a system feature:

• candidate portals reduce the pressure on recruiters to update outcomes
• automated messages create the illusion of communication
• slow decision cycles become normal enough that no one feels accountable
• internal hiring pathways can coexist with external vacancy postings without clean coordination

So I don’t see it as “one company made a mistake.” I see it as an environment where job seekers have very little leverage and almost no feedback loop. It turns job searching into constant second-guessing, not strategic planning.

Personal Experience with Radisson

For me, the clearest example of this pattern happened with Radisson. I applied twice for receptionist positions at the chain. After submitting both applications, I experienced the exact “silent limbo” behavior I’m criticizing:

• they never sent a positive answer or a negative answer
• the candidate status never changed to something like “reviewed” or “denied”
• what they did do was ask me to follow them on social networks and send spam emails

I’m including this because it captures the emotional core of the critique: it didn’t feel like hiring communication; it felt like marketing automation layered over an inactive recruiting outcome.

Practical steps I’d recommend

These steps are designed around the reality that silence is common, so I’m focusing on actions that still protect my time.