When companies can’t afford the talent they really want, they may turn to other tactics to make positions more appealing for prospective employees. Company equity, office perks, and title inflation are just a few of the ways companies can attract great talent with lower salaries, states JobSage.

According to JobSage, title inflation can be an appealing alternative for companies and prospective employees alike, but does it really satisfy workers in the long run? What happens when employees with inflated titles look for new jobs? How do employees review companies that offer benefits aside from compensation?

JobSge surveyed over 700 employees and 300 hiring managers to find out how title inflation has affected their professional experiences and found:

• Nearly half of hiring managers (48%) say job titles are less reliable indicators of skills than they used to be.
• Nearly 1 in 3 (28%) of employees say they’ve had job titles that overstate their skills.
• More than half (58%) of Gen Z employees expect to be promoted at least every 18 months.

Regarding job titles, JobSage states that of those we surveyed, nearly half of hiring managers (48%) said job titles are less reliable indicators of skills than they used to be. In fact, 40% of managers said they’ve had trouble finding the right person for an open role because candidates’ past titles are confusing or overstated.

In the effort to cut through the noise of inflated and jargon-heavy titles, nearly all managers said they’re focused on finding candidates with specific skills (95%) and listening for candidates’ fluency when they discuss their roles (67%). By contrast, only about a third really consider previous job titles (34%).

More here.