Everyone has a friend ask them once in a while to help them find a good job… but not everyone is willing to recommend that their friend look for a job in their work department at their company. Whether this because we think our friends are too good for our workplaces or that we think our workplaces are too good for our friends we’re can’t say, but some workers tend to be fairly hesitant when it comes to “crossing the streams” and having their personal worlds and their professional worlds mix. We asked employees the question “Would your refer a friend to work in your department at your company?”
The following information comes from the latest reading of an ongoing study by Comparably. Over 10,000 employees responded to the question.
Nearly two-thirds of all respondents say they would indeed recommend their friend work in their department. Male and female responses are almost identical here, suggesting gender isn’t a factor here.
Asian/Pacific Islanders and Hispanic/Latinos both responded “yes’ the question at a slightly higher rate than the averages for all employees as seen above. African-Americans were the least likely to recommend to friend try to find work in their department. Caucasian responses were in line with the overall average for all employees
The younger you are, the more likely it is that you would play match-maker between your friend and your work department. Gen Z respondents (age 18-25) responded “yes” in the low 60s. That number then drops to high 50s for workers aged 26-30. The next major dip is seen for the 46-50 and 51-55 age range groups: the latter designation answered “yes” at just 54%. The “yes” numbers rise again for the 56-60 group, who are nearing retirement.
The more experience you have on the job, the less likely you are to recommend a friend join your workplace. Those working for over 10 years were 7% less likely to say “yes” the question than entry level employees. This implies that a cynical reaction is more likely with more exposure to the working life, and that the natural desire or willingness to share one’s resources dips consistently with exposure to a company’s practices.
As we’ve seen before, employees from the Executive and HR departments are more vocally supportive of their company in many ways than workers from other departments. Three-quarters of C-suite and HR employees would indeed recommend their friends work where they do. And on the other end of the scale, as we’ve seen, less visible departments (IT, Operations) are less enthusiastic about their companies, at least when faced with a question along these lines.
Males executives are much more likely to answer “yes” to this question than female execs. Otherwise, in most work departments, male and female responses lie within five percentage points of each other.
Latest reading as of July 1.
