Yes! You finally found that dream job, after several months of hard searching. You apply for it online, and are sure you’ll land it. After all, you’re perfectly qualified for it. You go through several interviews with flying colors, and the recruiters say that they are genuinely impressed by your qualifications, experience, and background. So, you eagerly wait. A week turns into a few weeks which turn into a few months. But the phone never rings and you never get a text or a phone call back from them.
Confused and frustrated, you dig deep online and find a post on LinkedIn talking about ‘ghost jobs!’ Suddenly, you have an ‘aha’ moment and realize that your dream job never existed. Unfortunately, many companies post ghost jobs, or nonexistent jobs. It’s time to explain ghost jobs in more detail and the reasons why employers are now in love with them.
What is a Ghost Job?
A ghost job is a job ad or post for a role that the posting company either doesn’t have open or is not intending to fill immediately, if ever. Companies post ghost jobs for a variety of reasons. One is to intimidate existing employees into working harder and not asking for pay raises or better working conditions. Another is to keep investors happy by giving them the illusion that the company is growing rapidly when that may not be the case.
Some companies even post ghost jobs to expand their candidate pool for a position that they may have open or want to fill in the future. Other companies use ghost jobs to understand the current candidate pool better.
How Widespread Are Ghost Jobs?
Ghost jobs are much more prevalent than you think. In a recent survey, up to 81% of employers admit to recently having posted fake jobs. ResumeBuilder did a survey late last year. It interviewed over 1,600 hiring managers and found that 40% of them posted ghost jobs last year. Interestingly enough, their human resources teams motivated them to do so, followed by senior managers, and then investors.
Ghost jobs are a radical evolution of the decades-long practice of companies posting jobs meant solely for existing employees to apply for and ‘evergreen roles.’
A survey done by Revelio Labs last year revealed that fewer than 30% of the applicants who applied for a job in 2024 were hired. In 2020, right before the pandemic, more than 80% of applicants were hired. What’s even more frustrating is that 85% of companies that posted ghost jobs had their hiring managers conduct several interviews for those positions with no intention of ever filling them.
Ghost Jobs May Help Some Employers Fill Hard-To-Fill Roles
Some jobs are specialized so it’s hard for employers to find the right candidates for them. Ghost job ads and postings are invaluable for them because they (the employers) can use the process to find the best employees without doing any active (and expensive) recruiting. Employers are generally not in a hurry to fill these positions. But they will create a role quickly if they find the right employee.
Companies Want to Follow Fair Hiring Practices
A company may have an existing employee in mind for a particular position. However, they post ghost jobs because they either want to follow the law and practice fair hiring practices (that’s especially the case for public sector companies and enterprises), or they want to follow their own internal requirements policies of embracing diversity when recruiting and hiring.
A few companies may have identified a particular internal employee, but they post ghost jobs to compare that employee’s merit and qualifications against a broader talent pool.
Companies Want to Intimidate or Motivate Employees
Companies sometimes (wrongly) believe that posting ghost jobs will give existing employees and investors the impression that they are growing. Employees will feed better and work even harder. Investors will feel motivated to invest even more in the company, allowing it to grow further. Some companies use ghost jobs as a way to intimidate employees to accept current working conditions and work harder by giving them the impression that they are expendable and replaceable. Sixty-two percent of the hiring managers surveyed by ResumeBuilder admitted to doing that.
Some Job Boards Are Just Lazy
Some job boards don’t do the best job of updating their postings to make sure that all roles are current and open in the companies that posted them.
Some Companies May Want to Expand Later
Things happen in the corporate world. Companies often freeze hiring for positions because of financial uncertainties. They often plan on resuming hiring when their financial positions improve.
Americans Are Beyond Frustrated
Many Americans who desperately need employment are beyond frustrated with ghost jobs. They feel that these types of jobs are a waste of their time and want tips to learn how to spot and avoid them. If you’re one of these people, my next post is for you since I will give you valuable pointers on spotting and avoiding ghost jobs.
