Ghost Jobs
Job postings with no intent to hire — budget holds, phantom openings, and perpetual listings.
A 2023 Resume Builder survey of 649 hiring managers found that approximately 1 in 5 job postings are ghost jobs — positions companies post without genuine intent to hire in the near term. 43% of respondents admitted to posting job listings even when they were not actively hiring, using postings to collect a pipeline of candidates or to gauge market compensation.
20 percent of postings estimated ghost· 2022–2023
A 2024 Harvard Business Review analysis documented the prevalence and causes of ghost job postings — job listings that remain active despite no genuine current vacancy. The analysis found that ghost posting is systemic across major job platforms, driven by ATS pipelines, budget planning, workforce uncertainty, and recruiter activity benchmarking, rather than deceptive intent in most cases.
· 2023–2024
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