Ghosted Candidates, Frustrated Clients: Why Recruitment Needs a Rethink

"52% of UK candidates say poor communication is their biggest frustration with recruiters — and 27% of employers feel the same.

Recruitment isn’t broken.

But it’s bent. It’s creaky. It’s inefficient in the moments that matter most.

And if you’re reading this — if you’re a recruiter or an agency leader — you already know that.

Here’s the point: companies and candidates aren’t asking for miracles. They’re asking for something far rarer: respect.

When candidates apply, they don’t expect a gold medal. They expect acknowledgment. A call back. Honesty if the fit isn’t right. (Not ghosting.)

When companies pay hefty fees, they don’t expect magic. They expect understanding. Real candidates. Real communication. (Not just 'yeses' followed by silence.)

Recruitment agencies who treat candidates and companies as disposable — a few clicks away from the next placement — might survive today. But they won’t thrive tomorrow. Because the future of recruitment is different. It’s personal again. It’s high-trust and lasting results, not high-volume.

We believe agencies have a once-in-a-generation chance to rebuild their reputation — not by doing more, but by doing better.

Here’s what the best are already doing:

•⁠ ⁠They talk less and listen more.

•⁠ ⁠They send fewer CVs but better ones.

•⁠ ⁠They treat candidates not like inventory, but like customers.

•⁠ ⁠They keep employers in the loop, even when the news isn’t shiny.

They remember: the candidate experience is the client experience.

In a UK market flooded with 30,000+ agencies, being "good enough" isn't good enough.

Being specialised matters. Being honest matters. Showing up matters. Actually being helpful matters.

The agencies that win will be the ones who choose to be human first, transaction second.

Because candidates remember. Employers remember. And brands, in the end, are built not on billings but on trust.

The good news? Fixing this isn’t complicated.

It’s weekly updates. It’s "thank you for applying." It's "here’s where you stand." It's “I’ll call you even if you didn’t get the job.” It's "this is why you need to meet this candidate".

It’s small signals that tell a candidate: you matter. It’s small actions that tell a client: we understand you.

In a noisy world, the agency that listens and goes that little bit further wins.

AdScribe exists to help agencies communicate better — faster, smarter, with more heart. Because communication isn’t the cherry on top of recruitment. It is the job.

The old way was post-and-pray. The new way is connect-and-care.

Which one will you choose?