Although some believe there's no such thing as bad publicity, job applicants will tell you otherwise.
Indeed, they have told CareerBuilder for a recent survey, which reports that a whopping 71 percent of U.S. workers say they would not apply to a company experiencing negative press. Female workers, at 79 percent, are much more likely not to apply to a company experiencing negative press than their male counterparts, at 61 percent.
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"In today's 24/7 news cycle and social media world, earning and maintaining a good reputation can be a challenge," Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder, says in a statement.
Haefner adds, "It's easier than ever before for job seekers to research potential employers. Employers that value transparency and take a proactive approach to issues or complaints will have a better chance of securing trust and loyalty and maintaining a positive reputation that can strengthen their recruitment and retention strategies."
Bad publicity, the study finds, can have a serious ripple effect across companies, with 26 percent of employers reporting that their company has experienced negative publicity that carried over into a hit to their hiring process.
Sixty-one percent of these employers combined, it says, report that fewer job offers are accepted, they receive fewer candidate referrals from employees and fewer job applications come in in the wake of the negative publicity.
And there are other negative impacts to the business, too, including lower employee morale, higher voluntary employee turnover and a decline in sales.
In addition, while bad publicity may turn off candidates from applying, it doesn't necessarily make current workers leave; only 6 percent have left a company because of negative publicity.
CareerBuilder points out that although negative news travels faster than positive, "companies should share their positive news to strengthen their company overall." It adds that almost 4 out of 5 employers who have experienced positive press have seen a number of beneficial impacts.
Among those good effects are higher morale among employees (42 percent); employees being most likely to share positive things about the company on social channels (36 percent); a boost in sales (36 percent); more job applications (32 percent); more job candidate referrals from employees (22 percent); more job offers being accepted (21 percent); and lower voluntary employee turnover (19 percent)
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