More than 40% of job seekers said it’s reasonable to “ghost” companies during the interview process, abruptly cutting off communication when they decide not to pursue a job, according to a survey released today by Clutch, a B2B ratings and reviews company.

Overall, more than half of job seekers, 55%, said they abandon up to five job applications during the job search.

Thirty percent of job seekers said workplace ghosting occurs because they accept another job and 19% said it occurred because they decided a role is not a match. Job seekers also ghost in response to being ghosted: Nearly one-quarter, 23%, said they ghost when a company stops communicating with them.

More than one-third of job seekers, 35%, said it’s “very unreasonable” for a company to ghost an applicant. However, only 21% believe it's “very unreasonable” for an applicant to ghost a company.

Companies that ghost candidates inadvertently may signal their approval of ghosting, according to the research. Thirty-six percent of job seekers said the last company that rejected them did not respond at all. And when candidates receive a response, only 30% of rejections end with a generic rejection email to provide candidates with much-needed closure.

Fewer companies personalize rejection. Only 21% are rejected by phone and only 13% receive a personalized rejection email.

“If we’re losing good candidates because of a problem with our process, that could be having a bigger impact than we’d like,” FullStack Labs CEO David Jackson said.

Clutch’s 2018 Recruiting Survey included 507 full-time employees who started a new job in the past six months.