This defeats the reason for offering referral bonuses. Companies offer those bonuses so employees will refer people they know and can vouch for. If the company

This defeats the reason for offering referral bonuses. Companies offer those bonuses so employees will refer people they know and can vouch for. If the company just wants to pay to get more candidates they can use recruiters. Referrals have value when an employer brings in a candidate they know and have previously worked with. They have much less value when they give employees an incentive to spend time working as recruiters. I never refer anyone I haven’t worked with before and I think that’s the usual expectation.