Job Boards Are Rife With 'Ghost Jobs'

[Slashdot]

"Job openings across the country are seemingly endless," writes longtime Slashdot reader smooth wombat. "Millions of jobs are listed, but are they real? Companies may post job openings with no intent to ever fill it. These are known as ghost jobs and there are more than most people realize. The BBC reports: Clarify Capital, a New York-based business loan provider, surveyed 1,000 hiring managers, and found nearly seven in 10 jobs stay open for more than 30 days, with 10% unfilled for more than half a year. Half the respondents reported they keep job listings open indefinitely because they "always open to new people." More than one in three respondents said they kept the listings active to build a pool of applicants in case of turnover -- not because a role needs to be filled in a timely manner. The posted roles are more than just a talent vacuum sucking up resumes from applicants. They are also a tool for shaping perception inside and outside of the company. More than 40% of hiring managers said they list jobs they aren't actively trying to fill to give the impression that the company is growing. A similar share said the job listings are made to motivate employees, while 34% said the jobs are posted to placate overworked staff who may be hoping for additional help to be brought on. "Ghost jobs are everywhere," says Geoffrey Scott, senior content manager and hiring manager at Resume Genius, a US company that helps workers design their resumes. "We discovered a massive 1.7 million potential ghost job openings on LinkedIn just in the US," says Scott. In the UK, StandOut CV, a London-based career resources company, found more than a third of job listings in 2023 were ghost jobs, defined as listings posted for more than 30 days. "Experts caution not every posting that seems like a ghost job is one," notes the report. "Still, whether these postings are ghost jobs -- or simply look and feel like them -- the result is similar. Jobseekers end up discouraged and burnt out."


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[Blood on Blood]

That’s shitty for the applicants. Completely wasting their time and energy.

 

[b00sted]

Every promotion I got at the previous place required them to publicly post the job online as well - even though it was already my position. Not sure what the deal was with that.

 

[Mook]

Every promotion I got at the previous place required them to publicly post the job online as well - even though it was already my position. Not sure what the deal was with that.

If I recall, it's so that they can say they gave someone the opportunity to apply for it or some shit. There is (of maybe was) a corpo explanation.

 

[Blood on Blood]

If I recall, it's so that they can say they gave someone the opportunity to apply for it or some shit. There is (of maybe was) a corpo explanation.

Yes, solely to prevent lawsuits and employees from felling cheated.

In reality, those employees feel the interview process was insulting and a waste of time if someone was already hand picked.

 

[b00sted]

If I recall, it's so that they can say they gave someone the opportunity to apply for it or some shit. There is (of maybe was) a corpo explanation.

Yeah I kind of figured it had to do with something like that. Some regulatory thing to try and show that it wasn't some insider/nepotism-type deal.

 

[LikeABauce302]

Yup. A lot of positions are only meant for internal movement, but have to be posted publicly to put on a facade of fairness. It's a waste of everyone's time.