Bribes and Kickbacks

I was reading a post recently that discussed the pros and cons of offering bribes or kickbacks to candidates to take jobs. In the post, the author stated:

“We can understand why a candidate would want to use a recruiting firm that gives them $10,000.00 or whatever it is when they place them. That’s a lot of money anywhere…When you get that $10,000.00 it’s almost like a justification for moving.”

As well:

“…I understand why recruiting firms would want to offer it. It is a great way to drum up business; especially if you advertise it. You can advertise that you pay money to people when they are placed. That’s something that certainly will draw in lots and lots and lots of candidates.”

However, the post continued on with some of the business and ethical reasons why this may not be the best route to take. Some discussed included:

Paying out candidate kickbacks takes money out of your placement fee, and ultimately out of your operating budget.
If you advertise this practice and your clients know about it, they may approach hiring any of your candidates with more extreme caution.
Your clients may be led to believe that the candidate wouldn’t have taken the job if there were no kickback from you.
There is the potential of attaching a stigma to your candidates if they are hired; their new co-workers may view them in a less than favorable light.
Once a candidate is known to accept kickbacks, they may be suspected of being disloyal to any potential new employers.

So, there are certainly plusses and minuses to this practice. Paul Hawkinson covered this topic a couple years ago too in the Fordyce article Inducements, Kickbacks, Bribes, Sweeteners. What are your thoughts on this? Please share in the comments below!