Red flag language in job ads is on the rise; Starbucks one of the worst offenders
There are some workplace phrases that make workers crook their toes, such as the use of “family.”
In the past, the term might have been endearing and made workers feel all warm and fluffy inside.
But today, when an employer describes their workforce as “like family,” many modern workers hear something like, “We expect unconditional loyalty and dedication from our employees outside of work hours.”
Why? Because workers have been shouting out the euphemisms some employers use to package overwork on social media and company review sites like Glassdoor.
You might think that hiring managers would now avoid such language at all costs.
think again Not only are employers still using “red flag” phrases that indicate high stress or a toxic work culture, they are also dropping them in their job listings.
Workforce analytics firm Revelio Labs scoured job ads for phrases such as “must manage stress,” “able to work under pressure,” “can multitask,” and “fast-paced environment” — and they found that using ” red flag language” is becoming more and more common.
By the end of last year, more than a quarter of job postings contained at least one sentence that applicants would consider a red flag. Despite the recent focus on corporate inclusivity, this is up from 18% in January 2016.
In fact, there are some instances where using such language is important – for example, some jobs are generally more stressful than others, so it might be better to highlight that sooner rather than later.
However, companies that use such terms a lot are more likely to have trouble hiring talent.
On average, the researchers found that a one percentage point increase in the proportion of job postings with at least one warning notice is associated with 0.48 additional days to fill a job.
“Applicants pay close attention to the language used in job advertisements,” says the report. “They might be put off by red flag phrases that implicitly describe a demanding job with no work-life balance.”
This is consistent with previous research by Revelio Labs published in MIT Sloan Reviewwho found that a toxic work culture was the main reason behind The Great Resignation and turned workers off than low pay.
Top companies and sectors
The researchers also analyzed the job postings of the 20 largest companies in the US for red flags – and Starbucks was by far the biggest culprit.
As of 2020, over 75% of Starbucks’ job postings had at least one red flag, and it took an average of 82 days to fill a vacancy at the coffee chain.
Bank of America came second with 57% of its job listings containing phrases that could indicate a toxic environment, followed by Amazon at 45%.
In comparison, the Walgreens Boots Alliance was the organization that used the least Red Flag jargon, sneaking it into only about 1% of their job listings. On average, it took 31 days for the pharmaceutical distributor to fill the positions.
Startbucks did not respond wealth‘s request for comment at the time of publication.
Industry and job trends
Researchers found that marketing jobs had the highest proportion of red flag phrases over the past two years.
According to the report, the phrases “fast-moving environment” and “working under pressure” are commonly used in marketing alerts.
Meanwhile, around 30% of job postings in the financial sector and 29% in the sales industry contained at least one warning notice – placing them second and third for the industry title with the most warning notices.
For companies still struggling to use inclusive and welcoming language in 2023, the researchers have a tip: “Maybe ChatGPT could help them find the right text of job postings?”
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