A pair of Republican representatives want the state’s employment agency to make it easier for businesses to see job seekers who ghost potential employers in scheduled interviews.
Rep. Brian Lorenz (R-Powell) said a common complaint he hears from business owners is that prospective employees set up interviews and then don’t show up. So he and Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) want the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to have an easy way to report online those who skip in-person or virtual interviews.
“It's not meant to be a witch hunt or anything like that,” Lorenz said. “It's just a simple mechanism to mark that, hey, this person didn't come.”
Lorenz said his bill will allow ODJFS to toughen up the rules on no shows who are receiving unemployment benefits. He sai it’s not meant to be unfair to those who don’t show for in-person or virtual interviews, but to give more information to employers about applicants, and to the state about those who are getting unemployment benefits.
“What we're trying to do is just modernize the hiring process and hold the applicants accountable and help employers thrive,” Lorenz said. “It's a simple online system that just brings transparency and efficiency to our workforce pipeline.”
As for a common complaint from applicants – that they don’t hear back from employers – Lorenz says that’s not covered in the bill.
But he added: “I know that's frustrating and I would hope that the process works as a two way street.”
