What Is Corporate Catfishing and Why Am I Hearing About It?

The term “catfishing” is commonly associated with deceptive personas in online dating. However, a similar phenomenon is infiltrating the corporate world: corporate catfishing. This occurs when companies present a misleading image of their culture, values, or work conditions to attract top talent - only for employees to discover a starkly different reality after joining.

Companies engage in corporate catfishing through various means. These include falsified interview promises, such as exaggerated growth opportunities or project ownership; misleading working arrangements, like falsely advertising remote flexibility or support for work-life balance; and overhyped claims about culture - emphasising collaboration, innovation, or inclusion that doesn’t exist in practice.

The impacts are significant. For employees, the disillusionment can be swift and demoralising. It often leads to early resignations, mental health struggles, and career disruptions. For organisations, the consequences are equally damaging: high turnover, reputational harm, loss of trust in leadership, and reduced employee engagement. Moreover, in the era of employer review platforms like Glassdoor and social media whistleblowing, such deception rarely remains hidden for long.

In an increasingly transparent job market, authenticity is no longer optional. To attract and retain top talent, companies must ensure their branding, promises, and internal realities are aligned. Otherwise, they risk not just losing the people they worked hard to recruit - but also earning a lasting reputation as untrustworthy employers.