In 2023, a Linkedin user wrote a post venting about sending out 160 job applications and participating in 20+ of interviews only to be later “ghosted” by organisations. This post went viral. Among the over 1.5K comments that the post garnered, many echoed similar frustrations.
But how could this be? The data paints a completely different picture.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) report released by the U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics noted 9 million new job openings by the end of 2023. Such numbers marked a historical high within the labour market and prospects seemed bright as ever for potential jobseekers.
But closer inspection revealed a different reality. It was as if thousands and thousands of jobs accounted for in the JOLTS report never existed. It was as if they were “ghost jobs”.
A ghost job is a job posting for a position that either does not exist or is already filled. Surveys show that 4 in 10 companies posted a ghost job in 2024 and 7 in 10 hiring managers considered the practice “morally acceptable”. Data shows that applicant ghosting has more than doubled in the past 5 years, impacting almost every industry including healthcare, finance, real estate and administration and support.
Why do ghost jobs exist?
It does seem counterproductive to post ghost job openings- it wastes the time of recruiters who need to curate job descriptions and manage job boards as well as applicants who spend a lot of time crafting the perfect application. And yet, some recruiters think there are some incentives in this practice. According to a study, one of the biggest reasons why organisations take to posting ghost jobs is the uncertain economic climate fueled by the pandemic years. Companies want to project growth and profitability during a period of upheavals and want to allay any suspicions of a hiring freeze. Through ghost jobs, companies also want to accumulate a ready candidate pool to derive from when a real vacancy opens up or there is a paucity of talent in the market for any number of reasons.
Added to this, companies may also be looking to boost internal performances and dissipate discontent within their existing workforce by posting ghost jobs. In a survey of recruiters posting ghost jobs, 62% of responders indicated that they did so to make their employees feel “replaceable” and drive greater productivity. Another 63% said that by posting fake jobs they wanted to create a sense of reassurance, however false, amongst their overworked employees that reinforcements were coming.
How does this impact employees?
Posting ghost jobs can have a serious impact on the sense of belonging of an organisations current employees. This could easily signal a breakdown of efficient functioning of teams.
- Loss of psychological safety: When employees are given false hope from their company or are made to feel dispensable, they begin operating with fear. The psychological safety within teams is destroyed and wide mistrust is developed. Employees began detaching themselves from work and are scared to make bold moves for innovation.
- Dipping performance: Losing psychological safety has a deep impact on employees’ morale and motivation in the workplace. The fear of being replaced or the frustration of heavy workloads increases the occurrences of errors, many of them even being serious ones. Team members no longer feel comfortable sharing new ideas and solutions. Collaboration is replaced with growing animosity and conflict as everyone struggles to climb the greasy pole.
- High burnout: Ghost jobs take a serious mental toll on employees too. Being overworked with no respite in sight and also fearing being laid off at any moment create
a constant environment of high pressure and ultimately disastrous burnout. Ultimately, burnt out employees not able to produce the desired output and organisations suffer economically and, in many cases, through labour litigation.
- Migration of talent: The feeling of insecurity in a job gravely affects employee loyalty towards their organisation. Due to all the aforementioned reasons, valuable talent too would like to “keep their options open”. Just like organisations post ghost jobs for positions that do not exist, employees too would increasingly be driven to look for other opportunities and make a move at the earliest possibility.
How does this impact jobseekers?
Jobseekers also suffer from problems similar to employees as a result of ghost jobs. The mental health and confidence of jobseekers take a major hit when they send out countless well-crafted applications and receive radio silence in return. It also impacts an organisation’s standing among valuable talent who lose trust in companies upon encountering their ghosting practices.
Serious consequences
As more and more digital platforms and spaces are created for employees and jobseekers to anonymously share their experience with companies, ghost jobs can pose a serious threat to their reputation. It will signal potential candidates to skip job openings at that company and create an image of an unhealthy work culture. It will also send a message to the wider public that the company might be using ghost jobs as a tactic to showcase unfounded economic positivism. Most importantly, ghost jobs also come with the added responsibility of storing and using data according to stringent compliance regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Any kind of incorrect storage or mishandling of data gathered from ghost jobs runs the high risk of breaching GDPR guidelines and eye-watering fines as a consequence.
Ghost jobs are a recruitment practice that has a detrimental effect on all- employees, potential candidates and the organisation. While they may seem like a quick-fix to current economic uncertainties, in the long run taking steps to stamp out these practices to maintain high standards of performance, talent and brand trust. An organisation and its employees share a symbiotic relationship which must be nurtured to develop a resilient public image and attract greater excellence. When this bond is broken, years of goodwill is sacrificed.