Dangling a Carrot That Doesn’t Exist: The ‘Ghost Job’ Economy

There’s a specter casting a lengthening shade on an already embattled employment market: Ghost jobs.

A ghost job — or ghost listing, ghost posting or phantom job — refers to an employment posting that does not result in a hire, or is tied to a nonexistent or already-filled position. It’s a growing phenomenon, so much so that today’s market could be described as a “ghost job economy,” according to a report by MyPerfectResume. Consider the career platform’s report statistics for the U.S. market, such as:

• Almost a third of job postings do not result in a hire.
• In June 2025, employers posted 7.4 million job openings but made 5.2 million hires — leaving 2.2 million job postings unfulfilled.
• The gap between job postings and hires peaked in 2021, but since then, the disparity has continued to persist at 28% to 38%.

The issue varies across industries, with government postings leading at a 60% gap, followed by education and health services (50%), information (48%), and financial activities (44%). By contrast, the leisure and hospitality industry came close to breaking even, while construction hires went in the other direction, far exceeding the number of postings (by 44%) in June, according to MyPerfectResume’s analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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• Whether or Not You’re Posting ‘Ghost Jobs,’ You Should Take Action

Some of the gap could be explained by roles that take extended time to fill, particularly in the government space, said Jasmine Escalera, a career expert at MyPerfectResume. But, she added, when looking at the monthly 2 million-plus chasm between postings and hires, a significant portion can be attributed to phantom listings.

Ghost jobs are a growing reality — and more serious than some may want to admit, said Kara Dennison, the head of career advising at employment tools website Resume.org.

“When surveys show that around 40% of employers have posted roles with no real hiring plan behind them, this stops being a minor annoyance and becomes a structural problem,” she said.

Why Employers Are Posting and Ghosting

The existence of ghost listings is hardly a well-kept secret — in fact, HR professionals and hiring managers freely admit to the practice and point to several reasons for advertising jobs without the intent to immediately hire (or hire at all), Escalera said.

“We don’t presume companies are always doing this maliciously,” she noted.

Their reasons may include, according to Dennison and Escalera:

• Building a talent pool for the future;
• Gaining insights on what competitors are looking for, and the skill sets and job requirements of current candidates;
• Boosting public perception and visibility by implying larger-than-life corporate growth;
• Posting a role externally while intending to hire from within; and/or,
• Fulfilling vendor or contract posting requirements with no plans to fill a role.

In other instances, ghost jobs end up occurring inadvertently. Escalera and Dennison pointed to the following scenarios:

• Shifting a role’s level or responsibilities, or splitting it into multiple positions, but leaving up the original posting for a job that no longer exists;
• Intending to search both internally and externally but ultimately hiring internally;
• Filling a role and simply forgetting to take down the listing;
• Experimenting with artificial intelligence tools in recruitment and job postings;
• Experiencing a budget freeze that halts hiring after a role has been posted; and,
• Having automated applicant tracking platforms that republish or maintain postings that have been filled or expired.

“For companies, these listings might feel harmless, even strategic, but for job-seekers, they create real emotional and financial strain,” Dennison said. “Job-seekers end up applying to roles that aren’t truly open, reinforcing frustration and distrust.”

The Impact on Candidates

A ghost listing, whatever its reason for existing, looks like a legitimate job opportunity. That means time wasted on applications, inflated hiring data and eroded trust in employers, Dennison said.

It also may mean privacy concerns and data harvesting. And, some candidates who continually encounter listings that go nowhere may become more inclined to “ghost” potential employers in return.

Every person applying to a nonexistent role has been laid off, is trying to leave a toxic work environment or is in a position where they feel stuck, Escalera said.

“These are individuals who are probably maxed out, exhausted, stressed, emotionally and mentally spent,” she said. “They’re in a job market that’s already competitive, and now you’re adding this whole other factor: ‘Let me dangle a carrot in front of you, but the carrot may not exist.’ This can cause a lot of disengagement in the process, and it can affect job-seekers’ stress levels and well-being.”

Proposed legislation at the state and federal levels may eventually change the ghost job ecosystem. Without greater accountability, the existence of these phantom listings will continue to distort and undermine job-seekers’ efforts, Dennison said.

The Impact on Employees and Organizations

Ghost listings can take a toll not only on candidates but also your own employees.

Posting open jobs sends the message to current employees that the organization is doing well and growing. And for workers wearing multiple hats and carrying additional work, whether due to past layoffs, organizational changes or a lean hiring period, it signals additional help is on the way.

When those postings aren’t followed by hires, “that will absolutely make you look sideways at your company,” Escalera said.

Ghost listings can send mixed messages to current employees about corporate priorities and their own advancement pathways, as well as disrupting teams that began preparations for upcoming hires, Dennison noted.

The bottom line is that ghost jobs can:

• Strain organizational culture and internal trust;
• Erode public perception and candidate interest;
• Muddy application processes;
• Drain the organization’s time and resources; and,
• Lead to fragmentation between corporate leadership, recruiters, and HR and TR teams.

“Ghost jobs ultimately create more problems for employers and HR professionals than they solve,” Dennison said. “Over time, this lack of clarity damages credibility, complicates workforce planning and makes it harder for organizations to compete for talent.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Experience
• Workforce Engagement