Benefits December 14, 2005

Poll: Few Job Seekers Declining Hiring Offers

December 14, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Companies may be hiring again in some areas of the economy, but that doesn't mean job seekers can call - or at least influence - all the shots.
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A new poll of 301 hiring managers by the HR.BLR.com Web site, found that a majority (70%) of respondents said less than 10% of applicants turn down their job offers, according to a news release. A follow-up poll found that, when prospects do turn down employment offers, money is the usual reason.

Asked in the December 2005 survey, “What percentage of applicants ultimately decline job offers at your company?”:

  • 25% said more than 10% but less than 25% turned their firms down.
  • 3% answered between 25% and 50% were job offer decliners.
  • 2% said their job offers are rejected by more than 50% of those to whom they are offered.

The follow-up poll asked, “When applicants decline job offers from your company, what is the most common reason?”

Of the 384 people responding to the second poll, 70% said job offers were rejected because the salary was too low or the applicant took another job for more money, while 10% said the job wasn’t what the applicant thought it would be, 9% answered “Other,” and 3% said job offers were rejected because of the commute.

“These polls would seem to indicate that workers are still hungry, but not so hungry that they’ll jump at just any job or salary,” said Chris Kilbourne, BLR’s senior managing Web editor, in the news release.

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