Hiring in today’s job market feels like an uphill battle. After more than eight weeks of focused effort, I successfully hired five full-time employees—a major milestone in preparing a small business for future growth. Three licensed dental assistants, one front desk receptionist, and one dentist. Everything seemed aligned. Then, on day one, reality struck.
The morning huddle was a moment of pride—five new team members standing alongside the existing staff, ready to embark on a new phase of business growth. That moment of optimism barely lasted an hour. The newly hired dentist pulled me aside, stating she could no longer accept the position due to personal reasons related to her children. Shortly after, the new front desk receptionist informed the office manager she had to leave due to a child-related emergency. Just like that, two out of the five new hires were gone before the ink had fully dried on their onboarding paperwork.
I have always believed that early hiccups in a hiring process are an opportunity to build strong working relationships based on trust and mutual respect. Transparency and communication have been cornerstones of my approach—I invest time to ensure candidates know exactly what to expect and to provide them with the respect they deserve. Yet, what seems to be breaking down is the commitment from the employee side. Last-minute emergencies, sudden changes of heart, and an overall sense of disengagement have become common trends, and it’s hard not to feel discouraged.
I suspect part of the shift stems from broader economic and employment trends. Looking at Minnesota’s unemployment rates over the past five years:
2023: 3.63%
2022: 2.6%
2021: 3.7%
2020: 6.3%
2019: 3.3%
With unemployment currently below its long-term average of 4.71%, job seekers have more leverage than ever. And with that leverage, I’ve observed an increase in complacency—fewer candidates feel pressured to follow through with commitments because they know opportunities abound. This isn’t just a hiring challenge; it’s a shift in mindset. Candidates are engaging in the hiring process without full intent, using offers as bargaining chips with current employers or pulling out last-minute with little concern for the ripple effect their decisions create.
For small businesses, this trend is particularly tough to navigate. We don’t have the endless pipeline of candidates or deep financial resources that larger corporations do. We rely on intentional, meaningful hiring practices—taking the time to find the right fit, establishing mutual trust, and offering a positive work environment. But when the candidate pool continuously behaves in poor faith, it challenges our core principles. It pollutes the hiring landscape and makes it harder for businesses to feel confident in their process.
So, what can we do? How can small businesses continue to be good corporate citizens in an environment that makes it increasingly difficult? The answer, though frustrating, is simple: we stay the course. We reinforce our commitment to ethical hiring practices, remain patient, and refuse to lower our standards just to fill a position. It’s tempting to rush to the next available candidate, to settle for whoever shows up, but the long-term impact of doing so is far more damaging than running short-staffed for a while.
At the same time, we need to adapt. This might mean digging deeper in interviews to understand true candidate intent, setting clearer expectations about follow-through, or even rethinking how we onboard new hires to reinforce commitment early. It also means keeping our optimism in check—hopeful, but realistic—so that setbacks don’t completely derail our morale.
Hiring today requires patience, resilience, and a willingness to push through the frustration. As much as these moments test our faith in the process, they also clarify what truly matters: finding employees who want to be part of something bigger than just a paycheck. Those people are out there, and they’re worth the wait.
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