Work Reform

According to a 2024 survey from MyPerfectResume, 81% of recruiters admitted to posting ads for positions that were fake or already filled. While some respondents said employers did it to maintain a presence on job boards and build a talent pool, it’s also used to commit psychological warfare: 25% said ghost jobs helped companies gauge how replaceable their employees were, while 23% said it helped make the company appear more stable during a hiring freeze. Another damning 2024 report from Resume Builder said that 62% companies posted them specifically to make their employees feel replaceable.

Nasty

I don't think its just tech.

I have totally seen job postings at places I work and asked HR or management if I can refer someone I know...and they tell me they aren't actually hiring for it.

Kinda fucked up.

It's gross, fraudulent as three-card monte, and ... as with many corporate tricksters ... there needs to be a law with prison terms.

Yeah there's a lot now. Job boards are pulling people's data for $$

I know corporations like to be treated like people for tax purposes or some shit; but now they're haunting us with fake jobs? This is bullshit.

I've never got a good job from a job board. Always recruiters.

Make a list of companies that do this, so you don't waste your time. Also, the quality/functionality of their website can tell you a lot about how seriously they take their business.

As someone on the other side of this in just one private company of thousands:

I put out 2-3 job ads a month. Of those 1 will get past interviews to a negotiation phase, one will get stuck with a hiring manager who only wants to interview the perfect candidate, and one will be pulled for budget reasons and held to try again next month because the candidate for the first job asked for a little bit more money. We hire about half of the people who make it to negotiations.

My feeling is it's that no one has any money to spend. Every company I can think of is desperately waiting to get paid so they can pay their own bills. Most contracts with the government were horribly delayed by the shutdowns last year and it's been knock-on effects ever since.

What fresh hell is this that capitalism has brought us.

Any good ghost application software out there?