A Crazy Amount Of People Don’t Show Up For the First Day Of A New Job

I can't fathom the thought of being offered a job, and then just completely blowing off the first day of work. You'd think only a complete psycho would do this, but according to a new study, it's way more common than you'd think.

According to Fortune, Indeed — one of the sites you practically live on if you're a recent college grad — did a survey of 1,500 people living in the UK which revealed that in the last year alone 75 percent of people have ignored a prospective employer.

That's odd because you'd think if you applied to the job… you wouldn't just blow them off.

But wait, there's more strange behavior. The study found that 93 percent of Gen Zers decided to skip out on an interview (which given Gen Z's habits of slackery, didn't exactly stun me). This could be one of the reasons Gen Z has some of the higher unemployment numbers if you break it down by age, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with 7.2 percent of people age 20 to 24 unemployed.

Then the big one that I still can't wrap my head around: 87 percent of people said that they've completely ghosted an employer by just not showing up on their first day.

Skipping out on the first day of a job after interviewing and accepting the position is wild behavior. (Getty Images)

Ghosting A New Job Is Way More Prevalent Than You May Realize

I had the guy at the UPS store complain about this to me awhile back (The Gripe Report didn't exist yet, otherwise I would've respectfully asked him to send that complaint to me in email form so I could use it). He just said he was having trouble getting help at the store, and said he had hired multiple people that simply ghosted him on their first day.

I thought it was wild that this had happened multiple times at one store, but if that study is even remotely accurate, it looks like it's a pretty regular occurrence.

The reason the study gives for why people do this demonstrates even more psycho behavior. Indeed found that those who ghosted employers on the first day said it helped them feel "in charge of their career."

So completely hosing someone who is just trying to do their job makes you feel in control.

Alright. That kind of thinking won't get you strapped to a handtruck like Hannibal Lector, but you're well on your way.

As egregious as this is, half who did this once said they'd gladly skip out on another first day of work

However, the survey found that to a degree this works both ways. One-fifth of those who were part of the survey said they were ghosted by an employer when offered a phone interview, and 23 percent said they received verbal job offers, but then never heard from the employer again.