Posted on 08/11/2025 9:55:13 PM PDT by grundle
The rise of ghost jobs has been causing real frustration for job seekers. According to a 2024 survey from ResumeBuilder.com, 40% of employers admitted to posting job listings with no intention of filling them, and 30% still leave those listings live.
For job seekers, that means hours of time spent applying to jobs that aren’t even real. But it doesn’t end there. These “ghost jobs” were being used to build a resume database, project an image of company growth, or drive traffic to a site, all while leaving applicants in the dark.
What’s even more troubling is how many hiring managers don’t see a problem with this practice. Seven out of ten hiring managers said they believe ghost job postings can boost morale, productivity, and even revenue for their companies. But for job seekers, the impact is lasting. These phantom listings waste time, create false hope, and erode trust in the hiring process, and companies who deploy them, altogether.
Ghost jobs are especially common in industries such as construction, technology, legal services, and food service, where companies often leave outdated listings live, even when no positions are currently available. While some platforms like LinkedIn and Greenhouse are taking steps to mark verified job postings, it’s not enough to solve the problem.
Advocacy groups, such as Truth in Job Ads, are pushing for changes, including the Truth in Job Advertising and Accountability Act (TJAAA), which would require companies to post only real,, open roles. Until then, the growing prevalence of ghost jobs will continue to haunt the job market and frustrate the very people it’s supposed to serve.
A Closer Look at the Truth in Job Advertising and Accountability Act (TJAAA)
As frustration with ghost jobs mounts, lawmakers are beginning to take notice.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
“Seven out of ten hiring managers said they believe ghost job postings can boost morale, productivity, and even revenue for their companies.”
This also means 7 our of 10 hiring managers are integrity-challenged idiots.
https://holonlaw.com/ai/update-on-mobley-v-workday-ai-related-employment-litigation/
Thanks for the info.
Ghost jobs? There is no such thing as ghosts or ghost jobs.
Every employer likes to have a few resume potentials in their hip pockets.
Walk offs, quits, even a 2 week notice is often not enough time to find qualified team members. So ...employers hedge against that possibility.
To the job seekers...call it practice, call it practice.
“many times they are also used to “show” that there are no Americans that can be hired for the role so the company needs an H1B allotment”
We call that “moon shotting.” Moon shotting is when you are going to hire someone internally, but by law you have to post the job for a week. And it usually includes a “minority” candidate so it meets diversity requirements.
“””””HR is the result of Employment Law.”””””
That is the way I have interpreted it since the government took it over in the 1960s, as the government rules grew, it took it farther and farther out of the bosses hands.
My daughter intentionally went old school with job applications.
Sent paper letter, on bond (personalized with in signature) , with resume on bond, and college transcript straight to the design makers, bypassing the HR.
Offered 5/5 jobs, took one.
Each said it was a delight to see an old school application.
People who say "there oughta be a law" should be flogged ...
HR is used to exacerbate the minefield that employment law has created.
Ever notice that laws are made by lawyers, prosecuted by lawyers, and judged by lawyers ... with lawyers defending those who run afoul of the laws? We have government of the lawyers, by the lawyers, for the lawyers.
I had a boss who was always looking for the next big thing.
She was into personality tests - the birds, the colors, etc. She insisted that every manager had weekly meetings with each subordinate and you were to document everything. It was all so she could be on the never ending quest for the unicorn employee - a highly qualified, highly motivated person willing to work for very little pay. Needless to say, for a small company, she churned through employees.
I eventually left to start my own company. At a Chamber of Commerce event I ran into some old friends and coworkers and we were standing around chatting when my old bosses’ latest hire approached us and introduced herself.
I then introduced the group. I used to work for XXX. This is my wife, who used to work for XXX. This is Troy, who used to work for XXX. This is Rob, who used to work for XXX. This is Audrey, who used to work for XXX. We have a club and we meet at UNM Stadium once a month.
The next day I got a call from my old boss saying she was going to sue me for slander. True story.
I know that but they got too much power and have abused it. When it comes to hiring they are inept, unqualified and unethical.
You can follow the link to download your own copy of this very readable and worthy book.
Here are a few pull quotes:
p. 232
How can you identify a moderate? He is the man who only shoots at his own side and never at the enemy.
p. 241
Strategy 1: Build alternative institutions
The long, slow, and insidious process of invading an institution, then gradually taking it over before steering it to serve one's own ends is not the sort of thing that comes naturally to the normal, honest individual. The amount of deception involved, combined with the considerable patience required, means that simply recreating the SJWs' long Gramscian march through the institutions of the West is not a viable solution. A better strategy, and one that is far more in line with our strengths, is building alternative institutions that will compete with the SJW-infested ones.
Congrats to your daughter on her successful old-school efforts. She was fortunate the efforts landed at companies that have not drilled the HR shuffle into the management staff to ensure candidates get the same poor treatment. This usually means the hiring manager has no power and will be ignored by HR.
Corporations decided to honor the almighty dollar. They definitely don’t care about employees. Stock owners maybe.
The incentive of this system is that it keeps the workforce intimidated and in a state of confusion. When applications are constantly rejected or ignored, the prospective new hire who does get a job offer will believe themselves fortunate and will be willing to settle for less. Much less.
"Ghost job" postings result in lower wages and salaries for real jobs.
That is why postings for as many as 50% of all advertised jobs never result in a hiring action.
Organizations always respond to incentives, even without conscious deliberation from the evil HR department or the pointy-haired boss.
The reaason for being in business is to make a profit. The profits belong to the shareholders of a corporation to whom the Board of Directors owe allegiance.
The purpose of a corporation is not to provide jobs or social goal attainment. The purpose of a corporation is to make money for the stock holders. To make money, employees must be hired and maintained to ensure their employment efforts contribute to the bottom line of the profit and loss statement.
Profits do not belong to employees who contribute labor to the process. That is unless, the employee becomes a stock holder and is thus able to claim his pro rata share of the profits
I case you don’t know, this is THE tactic to get more H1B visas approved
1) Post job
2) Run it for 90 days
3) Hire nobody
4) Petition Gov as “proof” H1B visa needed for the role.
This has been going on in the tech industry for 30 years.
It needs to END
Any place with an HR department that out of control must be a miserable place to work. I consider that a bullet dodged.
Good point—they are also a great way to hide upcoming plans for plant closings or layoffs.
They would not be posting jobs for our plant if they were about to close it right?
Lol.
HR is full of politically-correct women who typically go home at the end of the day to several cats, but no partner....
“HR is full of politically-correct women who typically go home at the end of the day to several cats, but no partner....”
I was in HR for several years. True, there are mostly PC women, and not all that bright. But I have to say that most were happily married.
Working in HR was hell in earth, BTW.
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