If you have been looking for a job over the last few years, you may have come across a Ghost Job and not even known it. You might have even applied for it without knowing. There’s a chance you might not even realize it was a Ghost Job until you read this.

All of the businesses that you see with “Help Wanted” or “Now Hiring” signs out front seem to be constantly hiring. Is this because of high turnover? Are they expanding? Its likely neither of those. The odds are that they are advertising Ghost Jobs.

So What Is a Ghost Job?

Ghost Jobs are job postings that companies create with no intent to hire. They are essentially a scam, but not posted by a fake company, rather by a real company for a fake job. A job that either never existed, has already been filled, or they plan to leave open…no matter who applies.

In 2024, 80% of companies in a massive survey have admitted to posting fake jobs. Those are just the ones who have said they’ve done it, and each of them have likely posted more than a single fake job. Research also shows that 70% of hiring managers say posting fake jobs is “morally acceptable”.

So Why Post Fake Jobs?

There are various reasons a company might post a fake job. In research by CNBC, some hiring managers have said that they believe posting fake jobs helps create a healthy appearance for a company. They think it can help revenue by making the company appear to be growing.

Other hiring managers told CNBC that they think posting fake jobs boosts productivity by reminding current employees that they are replicable at any moment. This also plays into their other objective with the fake jobs, as hiring managers use these to collect resumes to potentially replace these employees at a later date.

They also believe it can keep burnt-out and overworked employees on longer, as they have the illusion of bringing in more help.

Some companies use these fake jobs to collect data on the market, competitors, and applicants. They hope to gain information on what competitors are paying, what the pool of potential employees look like, the health of an industry, and how easy it would be to replace employees.

There are even employers who are taking the process so far that they’re holding interview for fake jobs.

How Long Has This Been Going On?

This process of posting fake jobs may have been around for decades, but by 2013 it had started to create enough of a problem that the Wall Street Journal started covering the practice. As internet jobs boards have grown in size, and companies have been able to host job postings on their own sites, it has become easier for companies to post a fake job. No longer do they have to pay to have it placed in print, they can quickly type some details out, and hit “publish” on their site.

The introduction of remote work post-pandemic has also allowed companies to “bait” applicants quickly from any geographical location. Which has accelerated the amount of fake jobs they can post over the last few years.

Is It Legal to Post Fake Jobs?

While some law firms are currently building cases against employers for their use of fake jobs, there are no existing rules preventing them from being posted. The regulatory body that could impact the practice of posting fake jobs is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but they have been extremely slow to act on matters like this in the past.

Some experts say the best thing employees can do to help combat fake job postings is to use sites like Glassdoor to post information about fake job postings. These sites allow users to remain anonymous to avoid repercussions, while still passing information on to others.