Employee power is also manifesting in pickiness. More than a third of workers say they wouldn’t take the perfect position if they didn’t like the office culture. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Staffing firm Robert Half was recently asked to fill a financial analyst job for a reason that would’ve been unimaginable back in 2008. Its Los Angeles-based client had already made a hire, but the would-be employee failed to turn up on day one.

“Just no-showed and ghosted that employer, never to be heard from again,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director at the Menlo Park, California-based placement company. “Did they get another job? Don’t know. Did they decide not to take a job at that company? Unknown.”

Ten years after the worst downturn since the Great Depression, unemployment is at 3.7 percent, job openings are plentiful, and the pendulum of workplace power is swinging toward employees. That’s expressing itself in uniquely 21st-century ways, from enabling labor market “ghosting” to turning the tables on social-media stalking. Below, we run down a few hot labor-market signs for a modern era.

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Emily Payne

Emily Payne is the current deputy editor for ALM's Business & Finance Markets and former managing editor for BenefitsPRO. A Wisconsin native, she has spent the past decade writing and editing for various athletic and fitness publications. She holds an English degree and Business certificate from the University of Wisconsin.

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