Fake job postings are becoming a real problem

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. It’s a common feeling when looking at a job listing online: the title is perfect, the pay is right, and the company seems like a solid place to work. But you also wonder if that job is real.

Lots of job seekers have a story about the postings that linger online but never seem to get filled. Those so-called ghost jobs—the roles that companies advertise but have no intention of filling—may account for as much as one in five jobs advertised online. That’s according to an analysis of internal data by Greenhouse, a hiring platform that examined its clients’ job postings and hiring action over the past year.

Greenhouse and LinkedIn recently have begun tagging job listings as verified in response to the rash of ghost listings. The listings are dispiriting for workers, leading many to distrust potential employers and make a difficult process feel rigged against them. Using data that Greenhouse collects from its clients who hire in technology, finance and healthcare, among other sectors, Greenhouse figured out that between 18% and 22% of jobs advertised in 2024 were appeals for new workers that never actually got filled.

“It’s kind of a horror show," says Jon Stross, the company’s president and co-founder. “The job market has become more soul-crushing than ever." Companies have a number of nefarious and normal reasons for posting not-quite-real jobs. They may want to suggest they’re growing even when they aren’t, or may keep postings up in case they get a candidate who’s too good to pass up.

The postings add to a confounding market for workers. Economic data is pointing to healthy hiring—including a robust jobs report that showed the 256,000 new jobs were added in December. At the same time