Ghost job
Advertisement for a non-existent job
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A fake job, ghost job, or phantom job is a job posting for a non-existent or already filled position.
The employer may post fake job opening listings for many reasons:
- Inflating statistics about their industries
- Protecting the company from discrimination lawsuits
- Fulfilling requirements by human-resources departments
- Identifying potentially promising recruits for future hiring
- Pacifying existing employees with the premise that the company is looking for extra help
- Retaining desirable employees[1][2][3]
- Information-gathering on competitor wages[4][5][6][7][8]
There is a rising trend[9] in employers promising remote work as "bait,"[10] and it underscores the relative power of the employers in the job market.[2]
According to the career coaching service SamNova, a fake job listing can often be spotted as one that is either continuously open or repeatedly posted.[11] These listings may have catchy titles, vague descriptions, a lack of detail, or contain reposts of previous listings.
A survey conducted by Clarify Capital has concluded that many companies and government entities have tricked job seekers with fake ads without the intent of hiring.[4] A 2025 study by recruiting platform Greenhouse Software showed at least one in five job postings in the US is fake or never filled.[12][13]
Legality
Ghost Jobs are generally legal worldwide, though they may violate Information privacy laws or Consumer protection law in specific contexts in some countries.[14][15]
In January 2026 a law in the province of Ontario in Canada intended to curb the practice went into effect. Under the law, companies with at least 25 employees must disclose whether a vacancy is actively being filled in a job listing, inform job applicants about the status of their job candidacy within 45 days of a job interview and whether a decision to hire an employee has or has not been made.[16]
See also
- Employment fraud
- Featherbedding
- Recruitment advertising
- Sinecure – Legally benefiting the employee
- Fictitious employment – Illegally benefiting the employee
