Employers, Workers Say Distrust Is a Jobs Market Derailer

Distrust is harming the American labor market as employers struggle with fraudulent applicants and job seekers face an increased number of fake, scam and “ghost” jobs. That’s the primary finding of the 2026 State of Online Recruiting Report, released Tuesday, Sept. 22, by industry-focused talent platform iHire.

The company’s eighth annual research report, derived from a survey of 1,054 job seekers and 318 employers across 57 industries in the U.S., revealed authenticity in online hiring is quickly eroding, even though while reliance on job boards remains at an all-time high.

The study also noted that artificial intelligence (AI) adoption for recruiting tasks has leveled off over the past year, while candidates remain highly wary of automation in the talent acquisition (TA) process.

The Recruiting Trust Gap Deepens

Misinformation and deception are severely impacting both sides of the hiring equation, according to the new research. iHire found that the difficulty of verifying legitimacy online has become a major hurdle for both TA teams and job seekers. Prominent themes include:

Employer hurdles. 19% of surveyed employers cited fake or fraudulent applicants as a top online recruiting challenge. Furthermore, 24% admitted to receiving at least one fraudulent application within the past year.
Job seeker frustrations. 39% of surveyed job candidates ranked fake, fraudulent or “ghost” jobs (listings kept open for positions employers have no immediate intention of filling) as a chief job search challenge. In fact, 41% of job seekers said they encountered a fake or scam job in the past year, and 43% expressed deep frustration over how difficult it has become to determine if an employer or listing on a recruiting platform is legitimate.

Job Board Reliance Remains Strong

Despite growing concerns over fraud, job boards continue to be a cornerstone of modern TA, with employers and candidates highly dependent on them. The report underscored:

Strong employer activity. 69% of employers conduct “all” or “most” of their hiring through job boards and recruiting platforms, a figure that’s on par with those from 2024 and 2025.
Increasing dependence. Over the past year, 39% of employers reported their reliance on these platforms increased, while only 12.2% saw a decrease. Looking ahead, 33% expected their reliance to grow even further in the coming year.
Embedded candidate behavior. Job seekers mirrored this dependency, with 82% saying they utilize general job boards to find opportunities and 51% saying they leverage industry-specific or niche platforms to narrow their search.

AI Adoption Levels Off

After a multi-year surge, the integration of AI tools in the recruiting process has plateaued, signaling employers may be taking a more cautious or consolidated approach to automated hiring tech. The report showed:

Stable employer usage. 24% of employers reported using AI in their recruiting workflows. While this marked a minor dip from 26% in 2025, it still represented a solid increase from 15% in 2024 and a mere 5% in 2023.
Administrative and content-related tasks are the primary use cases. Employers mainly use AI to write job ads (66%), compose candidate communications (62%), automatically send messages (31%), and screen applicants or resumes (30%).
Candidate skepticism. Job seekers remained highly wary of how AI is used to evaluate their credentials, fearing a lack of human oversight in the screening process. In fact, 44% viewed employers’ increased use of AI negatively, compared with 22% who viewed it positively.

Ghosting and Candidate Quality Create Issues

A disconnect in communication and expectations continues to stall meaningful connections between hiring managers and job seekers in the online recruiting space. The report cited:

Employers are frustrated. 56% of employers said “receiving too many unqualified applicants” was their top recruiting challenge, marking the fourth consecutive year that it topped that list. Candidate unresponsiveness, or ghosting, closely followed, at 52%.
Candidates are frustrated. 58% of job seekers named “applying and never hearing back” from employers as one of their top frustrations.

Skills, Pay Transparency and Branding Also Are Important

Additional findings from the iHire report included:

Skills-based hiring is growing. 39% of employers said they now focus more heavily on skills over traditional degree requirements, a huge jump from the 11% who reported doing so in 2025.
Salary transparency is non-negotiable for applicants. 61% of job candidates said they refuse to even apply for a position if the job advertisement fails to provide salary information.
Corporate branding affects applicant interest. A sizeable percentage of job seekers said they thoroughly vet potential employers before submitting applications. Specifically, 70% visit the company’s website, 45% review its job board profile and 35% read employee testimonials.

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: