By Ritika Dubey
You tailored your cover letter to the job listing, polished your resumé and completed a long online form to apply for a job — only to find out later that the company never had any intention of filling the role in the first place.
Ghost jobs — vacancies advertised online but without any intention of hiring — have been slightly more prevalent as companies rein in hiring amid a slowing economy and ongoing geopolitical tensions.
“Because of the status of the market, where there’s a lot of things impacting our economy, the companies are hiring a bit less,” said Alexandra Tillo, senior talent strategy adviser at Indeed Canada.
Tillo said some companies are keeping their talent pipelines open in anticipation that they will eventually get budget approval, as many businesses delay hiring.
“They want to be as efficient as possible, so they start a bit ahead of the recruiting process, which is gathering those candidates’ resumés,” she said.
Tillo said while she’s seeing more ghost jobs, the increase is not dramatic.
A 2024 analysis by hiring platform Greenhouse found about a fifth of job postings are classified as ghost jobs in any given quarter.
Robert Half’s senior regional director Mike Shekhtman says brand optics and internal morale are sometimes at play for ghost listings — giving the impression to current employees that the firm is more stable if it’s in hiring mode.
“It signals that there is potential growth or even stability for existing employees, and to investors as well as customers and competitors,” he said.
Other times, it’s company policy that pushes recruiters to list jobs publicly even when it already has the candidate in mind, he said.
Many provinces have their own specific hiring laws. Starting Jan. 1, the Ontario government is implementing a number of new hiring rules for companies with 25 or more employees. Changes include stating whether the job posting is for an existing vacancy and if the company is using artificial intelligence during its hiring process.
However, ghost listings could also harm a company’s reputation, Shekhtman said.
Job hunters often keep track of the roles available in the market and if they notice the same listings are perpetually up, that could hurt a company’s image, he said.
“They’re going to start losing trust,” Shekhtman said.
Recurring job listings could also raise concerns about the company’s culture and turnover rate, and could cast a dark cloud over the organization and its leadership, he said.
There are red flags applicants can watch out for when on the job hunt.
Tillo said if a job description is missing details about the day-to-day duties or is vague about qualifications, it’s likely a ghost job.
A job posting with an old closing date or no date also likely indicates the company isn’t hiring, she said.
Tillo said job seekers should check the company’s career page and profile on third-party websites to verify the legitimacy of the posting.
“It will tell you a lot whether it’s a quality real job you should apply to or if it’s a company to maybe avoid at that time,” she said.
But these red flags shouldn’t always discourage applicants from applying, experts say.
“It’s not a bad job, it’s just saying that they’re not actively interviewing,” Tillo said.
If it’s a company you’ve been pining to work for, apply for the role anyway, Tillo said. That way, the company has your resumé on file and knows you’re interested in a job.
“Spend that extra five to 10 minutes sending your information because it could have a big impact down the road,” she said.
For less important companies, Tillo said she “would not tell a job seeker to go that extra mile” for a ghost job listing.
