In early June, companies such as Coinbase and Twitter rescinded their offers to their new hires, leaving many stranded and stressed. Other companies such as Netflix, Uber, Meta, and more announced layoffs and plans to reduce the number of new hires.
Hiring freezes allow organizations to reconsider their financial stability. Although it is better in the long run, announcing this news to promising candidates as a recruiter is tough. Here’s how you can deliver this news to candidates in the most professional way possible while maintaining a healthy connection.
Provide the background about the organization’s financial situation that led up to the decision
Share with your candidates about the situation and the steps that have been taken to assess and correct any issues before this hiring freeze decision. Your candidates who put their time and effort into interviews deserve to know what’s happening, and it’s best to be transparent with them. Include why this choice was made to explain how the organization handles it. This way, your candidates will acknowledge the organization has taken the necessary steps to handle the hiring freeze situation.
Share an overview of how the organization is monitoring this hiring freeze
Give your candidates peace of mind by sharing how the organization will handle this hiring freeze. The response to the hiring freeze as an organization sets the tone for the rest of the organization’s growth as it tells candidates and internal employees’ job stability. If handled unprofessionally, candidates may feel undervalued and not consider rejoining the organization when hiring resumes. If applicable, share information about how long the hiring freeze will be and provide a timeline of when the candidate should expect a response.
Show your appreciation for the candidates and provide feedback
Show your appreciation for all of the candidate's continued hard work, dedication and time to interview with the organization. To maintain a healthy connection with your candidate, try providing feedback or assistance in the meantime in case they decided to find another job in the meantime. Ultimately, it is an unavoidable cause and a hard decision to make, but the candidates deserve to be seen and appreciated.
Don’t cut any lines
Although this is a hard message to send and may upset many promising candidates, try to approach this situation as positively as possible and maintain a healthy connection. Hiring freezes are not within your control and your goal is to ensure your candidates feel respected, seen and appreciated. Allow your candidates to share their thoughts and keep their resumes in the system for future opportunities.
