Skills based pay is a compensation approach that ties an employee’s earnings to the specific, verified skills they hold and use on the job, rather than to their job title, level, or years of tenure. Instead of two “Senior Analyst” roles automatically earning the same salary band, a skills based system pays each person according […]
A counteroffer happens when a candidate accepts or signs a job offer, then their current employer responds with a better deal, usually more money, a promotion, or a retention package, and the candidate withdraws to stay put. Staffing and recruiting firms tracking 2026 hiring data describe counteroffers as one of the fastest growing reasons a […]
Return to office mandates are measurably lowering candidate acceptance rates in 2026, particularly for senior and highly skilled roles, according to a growing body of labor research. Companies enforcing strict in office schedules are seeing smaller applicant pools, more late stage offer declines, and higher early attrition among the very candidates they most need to […]
AI resume fraud is the practice of candidates using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to invent, inflate, or heavily embellish work experience, job titles, projects, and skills on a resume, specifically to slip past applicant tracking system keyword filters and impress a human reviewer. It is a resume and application stage problem, distinct from a […]
AI reference checking uses software, not a recruiter’s personal phone calls, to reach a candidate’s former managers or colleagues, collect their feedback through a structured digital survey or a conversational voice or chat interface, and analyze the responses for consistency and red flags. Done well, it does not just digitize the old “would rehire, yes […]
Thirty eight percent of US job candidates say they have already withdrawn from a hiring process specifically because it involved an AI led interview, according to Greenhouse’s 2026 Candidate AI Interview Report, a survey of 2,950 active job seekers across the US, UK, Ireland, Germany, and Australia published in May 2026. Another 12% said they […]
Remote IT worker fraud is a scheme in which someone other than the person a company believes it hired performs the job, typically using a stolen or fabricated identity, a facilitator based in the country where the job is located, and a “laptop farm” that makes the worker appear to be logging in from inside […]
A ghost job is a job posting for a role that the company is not actively trying to fill, whether because the position is already spoken for internally, the budget has quietly frozen, or the listing was never meant to close. In 2026, a Clarify Capital analysis of more than 175,000 US job listings found […]
Proxy interview fraud happens when someone other than the actual job candidate sits the interview or assessment on their behalf, then the real candidate either shows up to do the job unqualified, or a completely different person entirely shows up to work the role. It is one of the fastest growing categories of hiring fraud […]
As of August 2026, at least sixteen US states plus Washington DC require some form of pay range disclosure in job postings, and that number has grown almost every year since Colorado passed the first broad statewide law in 2021. If a recruiting team is still writing “salary commensurate with experience” on a job ad, […]
An AI voice interview is a phone or voice call where an AI agent, not a human recruiter, asks candidates job related questions, listens to their spoken answers, and scores the conversation in real time. It is quickly becoming the default way many companies run first round screening, replacing the recruiter phone screen as the […]
Internal mobility beats external hiring on cost, speed, and retention in most measurable ways, but only when a company can actually see what its employees are capable of. Without verified skills data, an internal talent marketplace is just a job board with extra steps, and most stall out within a year of launch. The difference […]
