Desperate Measures: Job Seeking Ethics in Tough Times

In this economic era of layoffs and inflation, some Americans are taking extreme measures to secure employment. Our latest investigation explores how ethical boundaries have blurred in the quest for job security, from embellishing resumes to fabricating work experience and using AI in the process. Our survey of 1,000 Americans who were laid off in the last two years (some now employed and others currently job seeking) reveals the compromises they’re making for economic survival.

Key Takeaways

• 45% of job-seeking Americans have taken at least one unethical action when job seeking.
• Exaggerating work experience (18%), omitting information (15%), and misrepresenting the reason for leaving a past job (14%) are the most common unethical actions by job-seeking Americans.
• Women are 43% more likely than men to exaggerate work experience when job seeking.
• Current job seekers are over 2x more likely to leverage AI to generate some or all of their resumes than those who are now employed after a layoff.
• Remote employees are more likely than onsite employees to feel any unethical actions they took during job seeking are justified (95%) and less likely to feel regret (8%).

• Among Americans still seeking jobs:
  • 34% have been searching for 0 to 3 months.
  • 29% have been searching for 4 to 7 months.
  • 37% have been searching for 8 months or more.
• The most common unethical actions among job-seeking Americans are exaggerating work experience (18%), omitting information (15%), and misrepresenting the reason for leaving a past job (14%).
  • Women (20%) are 43% more likely than men (14%) to exaggerate work experience when job seeking.
  • Among now-hired employees, remote employees were the most likely to omit information (17%) and leverage AI to generate some or all of their resume (15%).
  • Current job seekers (56%) are 30% more likely to take at least one unethical action when job seeking than those who are now employed (43%).
  • Current job seekers (23%) are over 2x more likely to leverage AI to generate some or all of their resumes than those who are now employed (11%).
• Among Americans who are now employed after taking at least one unethical action when job seeking:
  • 93% know of others who resorted to similar actions.
  • 86% believe their actions were justified, with remote employees (95%) being the most likely to feel this way.
  • 17% claim their employer knows they took an unethical action.
  • 11% regret taking an unethical action.
    • Remote employees are the least likely to feel regret (8%).
    • Men (13%) are 44% more likely than women (9%) to feel regret.

Methodology

For this study, we surveyed 716 Americans who experienced a layoff within the last two years about their job-seeking experiences. Among the respondents, 606 reported being employed, and 110 reported being job seekers; 54% of respondents were women, 42% were men, and the remaining 4% reported being non-binary. Among now-employed respondents, 49% worked in person, 29% worked remotely, and the remaining 22% worked in a hybrid setting.

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Fair Use Statement

If you want to enlighten others about Americans’ job-seeking measures, feel free to share this article for noncommercial purposes. We ask only that you provide a link back to this page, allowing access to the full context of our research and methodology.