How It Works

What we track

The Hiring Index tracks two categories of employer behavior. The Ghost Score measures responsiveness during the hiring process — whether companies acknowledge applications, follow up after interviews, and communicate decisions in a reasonable timeframe. The Process Score measures the overall quality of the hiring experience — clarity of role expectations, number of interview rounds, communication between rounds, and whether the final outcome was communicated with respect. The Separation Index tracks how companies handle layoffs and terminations — WARN Act compliance, severance practices, outplacement support, and communication quality.

Who submits reports

Reports are submitted by job seekers, current employees, and former employees who have direct, firsthand experience with a company's hiring or separation process. Submitters are not required to create an account, but all submissions are reviewed for authenticity signals before publication. We do not accept reports from individuals who have not directly experienced the process they are reporting on.

How reports are reviewed

Every submission passes through an automated integrity layer that checks for duplicate submissions, coordinated inauthentic patterns, and submissions that conflict with verified public data. Reports that pass integrity checks are published, typically within 24 to 48 hours of submission. Reports flagged for review are held pending editorial assessment. We do not edit the substance of reports — we publish them as submitted or not at all.

How scores are calculated

Ghost Score is calculated from the ratio of ghosting reports to total interactions reported for a company, weighted by recency. A higher Ghost Score indicates more ghosting relative to total reported interactions. Process Score is a composite of ratings across multiple dimensions of the hiring experience, averaged across all reports for a company and weighted by recency. Both scores are updated in real time as new reports are submitted. Companies with fewer than three reports display scores as provisional.

Recency weighting

Reports submitted within the past 90 days carry full weight in score calculations. Reports between 91 and 365 days old carry 75% weight. Reports older than one year carry 50% weight. This ensures that scores reflect current employer behavior and that companies can improve their scores by changing their practices over time.

Company profiles

Every company in our database has a profile page showing its current Ghost Score, Process Score, total report count, industry, and a feed of published reports. Company data including headquarters, size, and industry is sourced from Wikidata and public filings. Company logos are sourced from Brandfetch. Companies do not pay to appear on the Platform, and scores cannot be purchased or improved through any commercial relationship with The Hiring Index.

The Awards program

Companies that demonstrate consistently high scores across a meaningful volume of reports are eligible for recognition through The Hiring Index Awards program. Awards are issued quarterly and are based entirely on score data — companies cannot apply for or purchase awards. Award recipients may display the badge on their own recruitment materials.

Good companies win here

The Hiring Index is not only a place to call out bad behavior — it is equally a place to recognize good hiring. Every confirmed positive report raises a company's Process Score and counts toward its award eligibility. Companies that consistently treat candidates well appear on the Honor Roll, a live list of the highest-graded companies on the platform. The Honor Roll is updated in real time as new reports arrive. A company with a genuine commitment to respectful hiring will outperform its peers in the data — and that signal is visible to every job seeker who looks them up. Positive reports are not discounted or treated as less credible in our current scoring system. An email-confirmed report from a candidate who received an offer and had a great experience carries the same 5× weight as any other email-confirmed submission.

Ghost Postings

The Ghost Postings section tracks job listings that have been open for an extended period without visible hiring activity — a common source of candidate frustration. Ghost posting data is sourced from public job tracker data and user-submitted flags. A posting flagged as a ghost is labeled as such on the Platform with the flag date noted.

What we are not

The Hiring Index is not a background check service, a verified employer review site, or a legal compliance tool. Scores are opinions derived from user-submitted data. They are not audited, certified, or guaranteed to be accurate. Companies should not rely on scores as a legal assessment of their compliance with employment law. Job seekers should use scores as one data point among many when evaluating potential employers.

For a detailed technical explanation of sub-scores, Bayesian smoothing, recency weights, and bias corrections, see the full scoring methodology.