[kthejoker2]

100% in the "nobody remembers what you did, everyone remembers how you made them feel" camp.

An automated no is such a no-brainer versus the reputational risk of being seen as a bad or callous employer.

And people have looooong memories / impressions created in this space. I honestly have no idea if General Electric is a good or bad employer, but the Jack Welch era still lingers in my mind.

[atrettel]

I completely agree with this. I have only been ghosted after the interview stage twice but both times left bad feelings in my mind. I did try to contact people but did not receive a response obviously. I never applied to any jobs at those organizations again. I think many companies and other organizations need to realize that even an automated denial is much better than nothing.