Fama’s 2024 Benchmark Finds Warning Signs in 1 in 15 Job Candidates, as Digital Behaviors Escalate
LOS ANGELES — In a time marked by growing division, online extremism, and workplace uncertainty, a new report reveals an unsettling trend: misconduct is increasing—and much of it starts online.
According to the 2024 State of Misconduct at Work report from Fama Technologies, the world’s leading online screening platform, more than 1 in 15 job candidates (8%) in 2024 displayed online warning signs of workplace misconduct. The most frequent red flags? Harassment, intolerance, and sexually inappropriate behavior. But perhaps most troubling is this: reports of violent threat signals tripled year over year, rising from 5% to 14%.
“We’ve entered an era where behaviors that used to stay behind closed doors are now playing out publicly—online, in real time,” said Ben Mones, CEO and founder of Fama Technologies. “What we’re seeing is a clear progression: people are exposed to extreme content, it becomes normalized, and in many cases, they eventually act on it.”
From Digital to Dangerous
The findings come amid a wave of national concern about the growing link between online rhetoric and offline violence. The assassination attempt on Donald Trump during his 2024 campaign and the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson underscored that risk. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more retail workers were murdered on the job than police officers and security guards in 2024.
Governments are taking action. In 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) expanded its definition of workplace misconduct to include online activity. The U.S. launched a centralized database to track law enforcement misconduct. And in the U.K., the Worker Protection Act was passed to shift employer focus from reacting to misconduct to preventing it.
Still, the tools employers rely on to spot early warning signs are changing—and in some cases, disappearing.
Platforms Are Evolving, and So Are the Risks
Over the past year, social media platforms made key changes that make misconduct harder to detect:
- X (formerly Twitter) made “likes” private, removing a once-clear sign of alignment with harmful content.
- TikTok faced a potential U.S. ban, pushing users to seek out newer, less-moderated platforms.
- Decentralized communities like Mastodon, Bluesky, and Substack gained popularity, while many mainstream platforms introduced premium, gated content, limiting who sees what—and when.
Fama’s team reanalyzed data from both 2023 and 2024 to understand the impact. When the now-private “likes” were removed from the data set, misconduct warning signs still increased by 50% year over year—from 3.2% to 4.8%.
That sharp rise suggests that misconduct isn’t just continuing—it’s accelerating. And as transparency fades, employers face a growing challenge in seeing the signs before it’s too late.
Prevention in Action
Fama’s technology has helped organizations prevent real harm before it happens. Recently, the company’s platform identified:
- A job candidate with a hit list and manifesto, preventing a potential workplace shooting;
- A physician illegally selling human body parts online;
- A school administrator posting racist and violent content about children.
Each of these cases involved public online behavior—available for anyone to find, if they knew where to look.
“Misconduct isn’t a static issue. It’s fast-moving and increasingly public,” said Mones. “Employers need to meet that urgency with modern tools that help them see risk before it becomes a crisis.”
What Employers Can Do Now
In the report, Fama outlines three key recommendations for organizations looking to prevent misconduct in 2025 and beyond:
- Widen the scope of digital screening to include emerging and decentralized platforms;
- Use trusted third-party providers to ensure compliance and reduce bias;
- Screen regularly, not just during hiring, but throughout the employee lifecycle.
About Fama
Fama makes hiring great people easy. Our modern candidate screening solutions use online signals to identify candidate fit. We highlight professional attributes such as creativity, innovation, and problem solving while also surfacing costly misconduct such as violence, harassment, and fraud.
We help organizations answer the big question: how might a candidate act around coworkers or customers when they join?
Talent teams use Fama to improve candidate quality and employee retention, create safe and inclusive workplaces, and place the right leadership for their organizations. Fama is compliant with the FCRA, GDPR, and integrates into a wide range of HRIS, ATS, and background screening solutions.
Founded in 2015, Fama is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. We’re backed by some of the world’s leading investors, and have raised more than $30M. Learn why over 3,600 companies trust Fama at www.fama.io.
