In Bali, silence has become a career strategy. One day you’re working with a designer on a client project, next she’s gone, taking the files, the fee, and the client’s patience. A new hire vanishes after the first payday. A collaborator disappears two days before an event. No message, no goodbye. Only silence. Here, nobody quits anymore; they simply evaporate.

Professional ghosting is the island’s new occupational hazard. Built on transience and tropical escapism, even commitment in Bali has a short-term lease. For employers, it’s maddening. For employees the silence run deeper, tangled in culture, emotion shortcuts, and the illusion of freedom.

The data 

HRD Asia reports that 83% of employers in Indonesia have been ghosted by a candidate — no-show on scheduled interviews, unanswered emails, vanishing after offers. And it doesn’t stop there: a Visier study found that 31% of new hires admit they would ghost an employer after their first day. Gen Z in particular lead this trend globally, and Bali, with its transient, high-choice environment, amplifies it. There’s always another gig, another cafe, another opportunity tomorrow. 

One employer we interviewed joked that contracts in Bali last only until the next ceremony, or the next “we are hiring’ story on Instagram. Annual turnover in Bali’s hospitality sector over 30%, well above what’s considered acceptable even for tourism-heavy industries.

Behind the statistics and survivalist jokes lies something deeply human. A single silence that can stall a project and lose an important client, and shake a team’s confidence. The first few times you get professionally ghosted, you’re furious. It feels personal, irresponsible and disrespectful. But after a few years of doing business in Bali, the anger fades. You stop expecting explanations. The outrage turns into fatigue. Each time it happens, you feel a little more drained, a little smaller. The silence doesn’t shock you anymore, but it still steals your enthusiasm. And for small businesses, that energy is survival.

Ghosting as pseudo-control

At its core, professional ghosting rarely comes from disrespect. It often begins as avoidant coping  – dodging awkwardness, guilt, or conflict. The escape feels empowering. In one survey, 18% of workplace ghosters said it made them feel “in charge.” Psychologists call this pseudo-control – the illusion of power that comes from withdrawal. The instant relief it brings delivers a dopamine hit, teaching the brain that avoidance equals safety. But over time, that habit weakens the muscles of confidence and communication – the foundations of leadership and emotional maturity.

Ghosting also works as emotion regulation. Silence calms anxiety faster than confrontation, and each time it works, the reflex deepens. To justify the behaviour, people tell themselves comforting stories: They’ll figure it out, I don’t owe them anything. These stories dodge blame and help to rewrite the narrative. Avoidance becomes self-care, withdrawal becomes strength, and accountability turns into someone else’s fault. It’s a slow drift into victim thinking – a worldview where nothing is your responsibility because everything happens to you and nothing is your fault.

Underneath it all often sits emotional immaturity and fragile self-esteem. Ending things well demands empathy, regulation, and courage – qualities underdeveloped in a generation raised on instant messages and infinite options.

Why the island makes it worse

To understand the situation fully, you can’t ignore Bali cultural lens. In Indonesian and Balinese culture, conflict avoidance and saving face (menjaga muka) are social virtues. Open confrontation can feel impolite or embarrassing (malu). Saying “no” directly risks tension. So silence, while frustrating and costly to employers,  can actually be an attempt at harmony.

High power distance plays a role too. In traditional or family-run workplaces, young staff may fear displeasing a superior. Ghosting becomes the low-risk way out. And with communal obligations such as ceremonies, family duties and banjar events, sometimes people disappear because community calls more louder than work. From a Western perspective, that looks like flakiness; locally, it’s contextual prioritization.

Add to that the communication gap between expat business owners and local staff. What Western call honesty and directness can feel abrasive and uncomfortable for local staff – a recipe for misread signals resulting in silent exits.

Finally, Bali’s economy runs on short contracts, tourism cycles, and fluid job-hopping. Formal HR systems are rare; employment relationships are often informal or verbal. Without strong structures or grievance channels, “walking away” is the simplest option when something feels wrong. The downside? It fosters opportunistic behaviour and weakens the sense of shared responsibility. 

The result is a self-perpetuating loop. Employers, bracing for sudden exits, stop investing in relationships, training, and trust. Employees sense that withdrawal and mirror it, disengaging even faster. What begins as self-protection on both sides hardens into mutual cynicism, a slow erosion of commitment, neatly disguised as pragmatism.

What employers can actually do

The first step is realism. You will NOT train ghosting out of people, accept that you will have to build around it. Acknowledge that in Bali professional ghosting is a product of communication norms, economic insecurity, and a lack of emotional safety at work.

• Hire through relationships. Referrals via friends, family, or community networks reduce ghosting because social accountability kicks in.
• Use soft communication. Avoid demanding blunt feedback. Instead, ask gently in Bahasa Indonesia or via trusted intermediaries. Face-saving matters.
• Design for reality. Build flexibility into scheduling. Offer completion bonuses for appropriate notice. Always have a back-up plan for losing a key staff member.
• Focus on belonging. Most ghosting happens in the first month (although n not necessarily). Pair new hires with a buddy, recognize small wins, and consistently check in.
• Respond with empathy. You won’t get them back, or your time and effort you invested. You can’t teach dignity, you can only model it. By the way you stay calm. By not disappearing yourself when things get hard. By not turning nasty. That’s the difference between a ‘just a job’ and a legacy.

To those who leave without a word

The chances are you didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Maybe you were tired, anxious, or didn’t know how to say it. Fair. But when you vanish, the story of your work, your effort, who you are, is rewritten without your voice. In the absence of your words, people fill the silence for you. Bali’s smaller than it looks. The client you ghost today might be friends with a manager you’re now trying to impress. You will bump at someone you ghosted at a random party. A short message costs nothing. It lets you move on without baggage.

Disappearing might feel like freedom, but it’s borrowed. Ending things clean is hard, but it keeps your control, your reputation, and your options intact. That’s the edge. That’s who actually lasts here.

We all love Bali shortcuts – faster, easier, tempting. Until the alley jams, someone tumbles into the rice field, someone else needs to pull them out. Ghosting works the same way. The ones who last here aren’t the fastest; they take the hard lane when it matters, keep their word, and leave no mess behind. 

• MWB Magazine Autumn 2025 – Women in Business: Check out our cover story that
  dives into the fem way of doing business, featuring insights from a Pererenan OG and
  other inspiring leaders.
• Women in Biz event – 22 November 2025, Ubud – Your Ways of Doing Business: Join
  us for a deep-dive discussion on navigating Bali’s professional culture. Email hello@modernwomenbali.com for info.
• Ghosting in Dating: Curious how disappearing plays out in personal relationships?
  Read on here in Ask the Expert.