As we recently discussed, millennials may have an uphill battle when it comes to establishing our credentials as trustworthy professionals. The perception that millennials are disloyal and unreliable works against even the best of us, and we built a primer of top five tips to overcome that misconception. Turns out, trustworthiness isn’t something limited just to millennials. As a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek details, trustworthiness is a quality generally lacking in the US job market.
As @petercoy outlines, research from the Brookings Institute and National Opinion Research Center show that there’s been a significant drop in Americans who say most people can be trusted since the 1980s. By significant, we mean a 15% drop over the last 20 or so years; and that matters because that distrust may be reflected in the way we work together.
How does trust impact the job market? Many jobs are filled through people relying on their personal networks to find the right company or person for their open position. And, as Coy outlines, “if networks are fraying, more people have to find their jobs through formal channels, which can take more time and effort. States with bigger declines in trust had bigger declines in labor-market fluidity.” Labor-market fluidity, or how frequently people lose or change jobs, has declined 10–15 percent since the 1980s, telling researchers that the rate of job creation and destruction is decreasing and people are either staying with one company or having trouble finding something permanent.
Our overall takeaway is that this decline in trust is leading to a reluctance by employers to hire someone they don’t know, and on the other hand, a hesitance by job seekers to work for a company that they know little about. So, if you’re feeling like you need to give your network a little reminder that you’re a trustworthy professional — especially if you’re one of those “questionable” millennials — we’ve got the resource for you.
BULLIT was built to give professionals a way to support their network and build greater trust among coworkers, job seekers, recruiters, and clients alike. You shouldn’t miss out on your dream job because you don’t know the right person at exactly the right moment; and companies are missing out on top talent because our networks are failing to connect us to the right opportunity.
We’re launching a platform to help reverse this trend of mistrust and give companies and workers the chance to show why they’re great to work with. Head over to BULLIT.me and follow us @bullit.me for more information and updates!
