The Ghosting Index 2026
The industries most likely to ghost you
We measured response times and reply rates across 14 industries and 5 company-size buckets. The result is a public, citable ranking of where applicants get ignored — and where they get a real answer.
71%
of applicants ghosted in Retail
12 days
cross-industry average response time
26%
ghosted after a first interview
The full ranking
| Rank | Industry | Ghost rate | Response time | Post-interview ghost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Retail | 71% | 14 days | 38% | Detail → |
| #2 | Hospitality | 68% | 12 days | 41% | Detail → |
| #3 | Logistics & Warehousing | 64% | 11 days | 33% | Detail → |
| #4 | Media & Publishing | 62% | 17 days | 36% | Detail → |
| #5 | Advertising & Marketing Agencies | 58% | 13 days | 31% | Detail → |
| #6 | Non-profit & NGO | 57% | 21 days | 29% | Detail → |
| #7 | Construction | 55% | 10 days | 28% | Detail → |
| #8 | Technology & SaaS | 51% | 9 days | 26% | Detail → |
| #9 | Finance & Banking | 47% | 8 days | 22% | Detail → |
| #10 | Consulting & Professional Services | 44% | 7 days | 21% | Detail → |
| #11 | Healthcare & Pharma | 42% | 8 days | 18% | Detail → |
| #12 | Manufacturing & Industrial | 40% | 9 days | 19% | Detail → |
| #13 | Public Sector & Government | 36% | 18 days | 14% | Detail → |
| #14 | Education & Academia | 32% | 11 days | 12% | Detail → |
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