The New Arrogance: How employers are forgetting the human cost of market power

March 20, 2025 - The Post

Emily Makere Broadmore is a director of Heft, a communications agency.

OPINION: The job market has flipped, and some employers are making the most of it. Just like the housing market, suddenly the buyers have all the power and they're not afraid to throw their weight around without thinking about tomorrow.

I run a communications talent consultancy, and the shift I'm seeing bothers me because it shows an arrogant lack of regard for the very resource that businesses and organisations rely upon.

Last week Seek released stats showing work-from-home options in job ads are taking a nosedive. As Seek's senior economist Blair Chapman puts it, as long as this soft job market keeps giving employers the upper hand, the need to woo great people with WFH options is gone. In my experience, exceptional people won’t usually have a problem with a lack of WFH options; type A players want contact time and the ability to build closer relationships with their team.

What concerns me more is the attitude shift from some employers – or rather the procurement teams who are filling capacity gaps at large organisations.

Recently, we placed an exceptional communications practitioner with an organisation on a one-day turnaround. They needed someone urgently, and our consultant stepped in immediately into what many would class as a ‘hospital pass’ crisis comms role. Over several months, this person consistently exceeded expectations - working weekends and evenings, far beyond contracted hours - because they cared about delivering quality work and keeping the client happy.

And wow, was the client, their boss and their bosses' boss happy! Contract extensions kept coming along with amazing feedback. Then suddenly, after asking this person to work full-time throughout the month, the client's procurement person told them to finish by week's end. No explanation. No courtesy call. When we reached out for our standard post-placement check-in, we encountered radio silence.

This isn't an isolated incident. Fixed-term rates circulating on LinkedIn are causing debate about whether they're appropriate for the seniority and expertise required. Some of our people are being offered renewal rates significantly below market value for their skill sets.

This approach has real human costs and long-term consequences for organisational reputation.

Like the housing market where potential purchasers arrive with cheeky offers, potential employers are getting away with bad behaviour and below-market bands. If we at Heft - who select only the best in the industry - are seeing this employer behaviour, no doubt many others in recruitment and placement are experiencing the same. It reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how reputation works in professional communities.

Yes, employers currently hold more power right now. There are excellent people and not enough excellent roles. But markets always turn, and the best people will eventually have their choice of where to work. People have long memories, and today's expedient decision can become tomorrow's recruiting nightmare.

Organisations that treat professionals as disposable resources will find themselves struggling to attract talent when conditions inevitably shift. The communications industry in particular is small and interconnected - word travels fast about which organisations treat people with respect and which do not.

For employers navigating tight budgets and shifting priorities, the solution isn't complicated: end contracts with empathy; communicate professionally; provide honest explanations for contracts and remuneration decisions; recognise the human impact of your decisions, and be decent.

These actions cost nothing but mean everything to the professionals whose livelihoods depend on how these relationships are managed.

For those currently displaying arrogance in their hiring and management practices, consider this a gentle warning: The employment market, like all markets, has a long memory. Those who lead with empathy now will find themselves with a significant advantage when competition for talent inevitably returns.

In the meantime, we'll continue to place our carefully selected people only with organisations that understand the value of professional respect - regardless of market conditions.