I had two friends, across different industries, operating in different markets share similar stories about their recent experience with the recruitment process of different companies. In both cases, they were applying to a particular vacancy or were introduced to it by someone inside. They had been given clear indications of their interest in the role but the company decided to put them up for selection for another role instead without being entirely upfront that those other roles were significantly different and not going to meet their salary requirements.
They went through multiple rounds with the companies and took time to prepare for each rounds. When they eventually were given offers or clearer indication of what the job they were interviewing for actually entailed, they immediately tried to withdraw their application or stop the process. It was as though the HR who took in their information, salary requirements and interest in the roles were turning a deaf ear to the requirement.
There was no reason for that kind of bait-and-switch tactic. One of the hiring manager actually took time to try and convince my friend to take on a lower level job, even offering for him to drop by for an unpaid “two-day apprenticeship”. None of these makes any kind of sense for these friends of mine. The failure of HR in Asia is really atrocious and I deeply welcome the tighter labour markets as a means for companies to embrace automation and to learn to respect people.