When the job isn’t what you signed up for.
Workbeat looked at the hiring bait-and-switch, where nearly one in five workers say their job changed after they were hired. Chris shared what to ask for when a role shifts, and why employers should be honest from the start.
Raise it, don’t assume the worst.
Workbeat published “The Great Hiring Bait-and-Switch” by Samuel Dunsiger on November 10, 2026. The piece starts from a ResumeBuilder.com survey finding that 18% of workers say their job changed significantly after they were hired, and asks what both workers and employers can do about it.
Chris, quoted as President and COO of Uniti Med, a healthcare staffing company, speaks to the worker who has already said yes. His advice is to bring the mismatch to your manager instead of quietly assuming the worst, and to get clear on whether the change is temporary or permanent.
If it is permanent, he says that conversation should cover what it means for priorities, training, title and pay. He also turns to employers: being transparent about the role during hiring may cost an applicant, but that beats losing the person later.
A role can change for good reasons. What breaks trust is when the work grows and nothing else does, so the expectations, support and pay have to move with it, and the honesty has to start before the offer is signed.
What Chris Shared
Talk to your manager
When the job doesn’t match what you were told, raise it directly instead of assuming the worst about why it changed.
Reset the terms if it’s permanent
“If it’s permanent, discuss what that means for priorities, training, title and pay.”
More work, adjusted goals
Taking on extra responsibilities shouldn’t mean still being measured against every one of your old targets.
Employers: be honest up front
Describing the real job may cost you a candidate, but that is better than hiring someone who quits once they find out.
Taking on more work shouldn’t mean being held to all your old goals without any adjustment.Chris Sund, in Workbeat
Workbeat.
Workbeat is a Substack newsletter by journalist Samuel Dunsiger covering work, careers and the workplace, built on interviews with leaders, recruiters and career experts.
In this piece Chris appears alongside ResumeBuilder.com’s chief career advisor, the CEO of HireMe, an executive and leadership coach, and the CEO of Empathy Employer, each weighing in on how workers and employers can close the gap between the job posted and the job done.
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Chris speaks and writes on hiring, retention, culture and leadership, as a sitting executive and the award-winning author of You Are Capable of More.