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Right? When I started seeing people talking about ghost jobs, about two years ago, I thought it sounded too conspiratorial. Then I read a story about it at the CBS News site and the reporting validated that it was really happening. Now the stats are showing it's more widespread than anyone would have thought. You're right, it's insanity.
Rising Star
@author.
Companies post "ghost jobs"—listings for positions that are not actively hiring or do not exist—primarily to build a talent pipeline for future needs, create the appearance of company growth, and appease overworked staff. Up to 1 in 3 employers admit to this practice to keep options open without immediate commitment.
Key Reasons for Ghost Jobs:
Talent Harvesting: Collecting resumes to have a pool of candidates ready if a position opens up later.
Perception of Growth: Making the company look successful and expanding to investors, clients, or competitors.
Employee Appeasement & Control: Making current employees think help is coming to reduce burnout, or to make them feel replaceable.
Market Research: Testing the salary expectations of the applicant pool and gauging the availability of specific skills.
Internal Candidate Requirements: HR departments may require public postings even if an internal candidate has already been selected.
Accidental Listings: Third-party job boards often republish expired or filled listings, keeping them active long after the hiring company has stopped searching.
I wish they had also asked them why. Just collecting data or trying to make the company seem like it's doing better than it is? Or who knows why else they might be doing it.
https://fortune.com/2026/03/20/job-seekers-arent-imagining-things-candidates-ghosted-by-employers-hit-three-year-high/
So ridiculous - waste of everyone’s time. There should be regulations around this and companies should have to provide data on actual hiring
Chief
I don’t know why regulators haven’t stepped in to squash this problem
Why are you posting someone else referencing an article?
Why not actually look at the source and reference that to avoid misunderstanding what the Fortune article cited?
Chief
Because it just came up on my feed. Why’s that such a big issue for you?