A ‘Ghost Jobs’ Exorcism?
US lawmakers may start to punish companies that post jobs they don’t fill. Why many firms continue to use the tactic.
It sounds like something out of a Kafka novel: Someone applies for a job, but it doesn’t actually exist. Yet posting roles that will never be filled—so called “ghost jobs,” which now account for as many as one in five online listings—has become so common that some US lawmakers maintain the practice needs to be curtailed.
Legislators in New Jersey and Pennsylvania have proposed bills that would require employers to list hiring timelines and remove job ads after roles are filled. A similar bill, passed in New York this past April, would fine firms $2,500 per ghost listing, increasing to $5,000 if the post isn’t corrected within 30 days (New York’s governor has yet to sign the legislation into law). This past July, Texas opened an investigation into a major job board to determine whether it’s profiting from fake job ads. “I can understand why this would be really frustrating for everyone involved if a job is not actually real,” says Tamara Rodman, a Korn Ferry senior client partner in the firm’s Culture, Change and Communications practice.
Ghost jobs aren’t a new phenomenon. In a 2024 survey by career website Resume Builder, 40% of hiring managers reported that their companies had posted a fake job in the past year. The fake job listings were prevalent up and down the corporate ladder, encompassing entry-level roles, executive positions, and everything in between. For many frustrated job seekers, ghost jobs have become a symbol of a difficult-to-navigate job market.
Experts say that recent cuts in HR departments, the main keepers of job postings, have made the problem more common. “There are fewer people to monitor inactive or out-of-date posts,” says Dennis Deans, Korn Ferry’s global human resources business partner. Fewer talent professionals also could lead fewer interviews for advertised roles, potentially turning more listings into ghosts.
Companies have particular reasons for ghost posts, experts say. Some firms may post a job in order to identify not only current candidates for that role but also future candidates for others. Savvy recruiters will contact selected applicants and steer them towards different roles at the firm that might be a good fit. Some organizations also believe that posting ghost jobs helps them gather intelligence about the availability of talent—knowledge the firm can use for its own workforce planning.
Not all ghost jobs start out that way. Sometimes a job isn’t filled because managers’ expectations simply become too high. “You’re looking for the perfect employee who doesn’t exist,” says JP Sniffen, practice leader of Korn Ferry’s Military Center of Expertise. Hiring managers might ultimately promote someone from within, which leaves an advertised role technically unfilled.
Nevertheless, experts say the spate of legislation might make organizations reconsider how often they resort to the ghost-jobs tactic. It might also encourage them to promptly remove filled or inactive posts on their own websites, and to regularly audit third-party job boards to remove outdated posts.
Even without the looming threat of regulation, companies that too frequently post ghost jobs run the risk of earning a bad reputation, which can ultimately alienate the candidates they’re hoping to hire. “When people are looking for jobs and they see consistent openings that are never filled, it’s a red flag,” says Wendy DiMartino, a Korn Ferry senior client partner and global vice president of talent acquisition client services.
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