Fake Job Postings Are Becoming a Real Problem: One in five jobs advertised is fake or not filled, according to a new analysis; ‘more soul-crushing than ever’

By Lynn Cook of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Lots of job seekers have a story about the postings that linger online but never seem to get filled. Those so-called ghost jobs—the roles that companies advertise but have no intention of filling—may account for as much as one in five jobs advertised online."

"Greenhouse and LinkedIn recently have begun tagging job listings as verified to give workers better information amid the rash of ghost listings."

"between 18% and 22% of jobs advertised in 2024 were appeals for new workers that never actually got filled."

"Companies have a number of nefarious and normal reasons for posting not-quite-real jobs. They may want to suggest they’re growing even when they aren’t, or may keep postings up in case they get a candidate who’s too good to pass up." 

"nearly 70% of companies using Greenhouse posted at least one ghost job in the second quarter of last year. And 15% of companies were regular offenders, with one in every two jobs they advertised languishing with no hire. The industries with the highest percentage of ghost jobs were construction, the arts, food and beverage, and legal."

"Networking may be more key to landing a job than at any point in recent history—and it has to be more than transactional, says Glen Loveland, a senior career coach with Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management who worked in human resources with Disney.

“Authentic relationships are the bedrock of sustainable success. The days of simply uploading résumés to job boards and hoping for the best are rapidly fading,” he says.

There are many reasons why companies post jobs they never fill, recruiters, executives and human-resource professionals say.

Some companies pause hiring when they lose a contract or are worried about the economy, and many job ads live online long after the role is filled. Ghost jobs could be advertised to comply with federal law, which requires certain roles to be posted publicly, after an external job candidate has already been presented by a recruiter, or an internal hire has been flagged for promotion."

 "Some staffing agencies also post jobs that don’t really exist so they can go to a company and pitch their services by showing off a great portfolio of talented people who could be hired.

"To give applicants better information, Greenhouse rolled out badges that attest clients have demonstrated they are responsive to job seekers, which means they fill almost all roles and write rejection letters instead of ghosting candidates. And late last year, LinkedIn started tagging job listings on its site as “verified” when it is confirmed the role is real"

"There is no perfect way to discern whether you’re pondering a ghost job, says Peter Duris, chief executive of Kickresume, a website that uses AI to tailor résumés to job requirements. But if the listing doesn’t have a clear timestamp or was posted months ago, be cautious. Most jobs are filled faster than that. 

Ads on job boards like Indeed that don’t appear on the employer’s own website are also suspect. Duris advises calling the employer directly."

Related post:

Job Listings Abound, but Many Are Fake In an uncertain economy, companies post ads for jobs they might not really be trying to fill (2023)

Also see Online Returns Fraud Finds a Home on Telegram, Costing Retailers Billions: Efforts to exploit retailers’ return programs are growing more organized, fueled by websites and messaging accounts that target merchants (2024) which has links to many posts on other ways fakes appear in our economy