Complex and divisive though it is, the active-passive candidates conundrum should be seen as shifting from Monday through to Friday, says Johnny Campbell, chief executive of recruitment solutions firm Social Talent.

Addressing an audience in London last Thursday (23 August) at Talent Works International and Monster’s Talent Sourcing Conference, Campbell notes that the clichéd, received wisdom suggests that at any one point in time 20% of candidates are active and the rest passive.

“My theory is that the active market on a Monday morning is massive,” he says. 

With individuals coming to work with a heavy heart, Campbell suggests that candidates contacted on a Monday morning are more likely to be interested in an opportunity presented to them by a recruiter.

Then, be it going to the pub, getting home to one’s family, “Friday evening, we’re all passive again”, Campbell concludes.

According to job site Reed.co.uk, which has since 2008 run a campaign entitled ‘Love Mondays’: “Mondays have had a raw deal for far too long and it's our mission to give them the love they deserve – by matching hard-working individuals like you with the jobs you deserve.”