ver the past year, one of the most frustrating trends for American job seekers has been the rise of so-called “ghost jobs.” These are job postings that appear legitimate but are either never intended to be filled, remain open indefinitely, or have already been filled without the listing being removed. The phenomenon has grown so widespread that it’s reshaping how people view the job market and how analysts interpret employment data.
Recent studies show that ghost postings now make up an estimated 20% to 30% of all job listings in the United States. That means millions of openings advertised online may not reflect real hiring activity. Surveys also indicate that about four out of ten employers admit to keeping postings active even when they have no immediate plans to hire. Many companies do this to collect resumes, build future candidate pipelines, or signal to competitors and investors that their business is expanding — even if budgets or internal approvals haven’t caught up.
Another major reason for ghost jobs is automation in job boards and recruitment software. Many platforms automatically re-post expired roles, or keep listings live until an employer takes them down manually. In fast-moving sectors such as technology, manufacturing, and retail, this leads to outdated or misleading postings that stay visible for months. In other cases, hiring freezes, budget changes, or leadership shifts quietly stall recruitment after positions are posted, leaving listings “open” long after they’ve gone inactive.
For job seekers, the impact is personal and exhausting. Many spend hours customizing resumes, writing cover letters, and completing detailed applications — only to receive no response or to discover that the position was never real in the first place. This contributes to burnout, distrust in employers, and the feeling that the job market is more illusion than opportunity. It also skews national employment data, since job opening numbers can be inflated by listings that have no real intent behind them.
Economists warn that ghost jobs distort labor-market statistics. Official figures like the ratio of job openings to unemployed workers may overstate the health of the economy. If even a fraction of the millions of postings online are ghost jobs, the gap between openings and actual hiring could be far narrower than reported. This can affect policy decisions, wage predictions, and even how companies plan for growth.
Some lawmakers and employment experts are calling for new transparency standards, including rules that require employers to disclose when a job listing is part of a talent-pool search rather than an active opening. Others suggest time limits for how long a posting can remain online without updates. In the meantime, experts advise job seekers to look for warning signs: roles that have been posted for months, vague job descriptions, repeated listings, or companies that never seem to close applications.
The rise of ghost jobs reflects a new, more cautious hiring environment in America. Employers are trying to stay flexible, while job seekers are caught in a cycle of false hope and wasted effort. Until greater transparency takes hold, one thing is clear — in today’s job market, not every open door actually leads to a job.
