The rise of the 'ghost job'

Summary

---

Business Daily – The Rise of the 'Ghost Job'

BBC World Service | Host: Megan Lawton | December 18, 2025

---

Overview

This episode of Business Daily delves into the phenomenon of "ghost jobs"—fake, outdated, or placeholder job listings posted by companies with no intention of actually filling the role. Host Megan Lawton speaks with job seekers, legal experts, and recruitment specialists to examine the impact of ghost jobs on individuals and labor markets, explore new legislative efforts, and offer advice to those navigating today’s challenging job search landscape.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Are Ghost Jobs? (01:18–01:47)

• Definition: Ghost jobs refer to job postings that appear genuine but are not intended to be filled by the employer.
• The phenomenon is not restricted to any one industry or country; it’s widespread in the US, Canada, and the UK.
• Notable Data: "As many as four in 10 companies say they have posted a job listing this year that simply doesn't exist, while 3 in 10 say that they are currently advertising for a role that isn't real." (E, 01:47)

2. The Experience of Job Seekers (02:38–03:20, 05:24–09:43)

• Eilish (UK Job Seeker): Spends entire days searching and applying for jobs, only to often find those listings are not real.
  • Quote: "If I had a pound for how many times this has happened to me, I would no longer need to work because I would be sipping a margarita on a beach somewhere." (E, 03:00)
• Eric Thompson (US, Tech Industry):
  • At first skeptical, he experienced ghost jobs firsthand after redundancy: "I was trying to advance my career...then I got to the point where I was making downgrade moves...I kept finding more and more jobs that just weren't responsive." (D, 05:53)
  • Submitted over 3,000 resumes, received fewer than 100 responses, and less than 5 interview requests. (D, 08:01)
  • Emotional Impact: “It took my breath away and was a little overwhelming to know that I wasn't alone in the dark.” (D, 08:12)
• Job Search as a Full-Time Job: "Looking for a job is a full-time job and you actually work harder looking for a job than you do when you've actually got the job." (E, 08:28)

3. Legal Responses & Attempts to Curb Ghost Jobs

Ontario, Canada Legislation (04:00–04:56, 15:56–17:06)

• Deborah Hudson (Employment Lawyer):
  • Starting January 1, 2026, companies with 25+ employees must update candidates within 45 days post-interview and disclose if a vacancy is being actively filled.
  • "We're hopeful for change, we're hopeful for transparency and we just are looking for fairness, reduction in bias in hiring." (C, 04:43)
• Skepticism: “How are they actually going to monitor and regulate this...I don't think that the government has resources to be having investigations on what's happening or not.” (C, 15:56)

The US and Advocacy (05:24–07:05, 17:06–18:13)

• Eric Thompson started the Truth in Job Advertising and Accountability Working Group, proposing:
  • Mandatory "nutrition label" for job listings—key information validated by posters.
  • Mandatory notifications when a job is filled; listings can't stay up indefinitely.
  • Nationwide petition with 50,000+ signatures (as of recording).
• Other States: Some states like California, New Jersey mandate labeling of “contingent” or “standing” jobs but lack enforcement power.
  • "They don't have teeth, they don't have that economic incentive for companies to behave because a lot of them don't have fines, a lot of them don't have the penalties to enforce the behavior..." (D, 17:28)

4. Why Do Companies Post Ghost Jobs? (13:03–14:13)

• Dr. Jasmine Escalera (Recruitment Expert):
  • Reasons include building a talent pool for future hiring, inflating hiring metrics, and, less commonly, collecting or selling data.
  • Quote: "They might be posting these positions to actually create a talent pool...They also could potentially be inflating numbers so trying to show that the company or organization is growing when they're actually not." (F, 13:15)
• Further Risks: Some overseas firms may data-mine resumes for competitive insights. (D, 13:49)

5. The Broader Impact of Ghost Jobs (15:01–15:35)

• Data Distortion: Ghost jobs skew employment data and hinder meaningful policy.
  • “We use this data to develop policy...if that data is somehow skewed, then we're not really able to create the policies or the support that job seekers and employees need.” (F, 15:09)

6. Platforms’ Response (18:13–18:48)

• Indeed: "Ghost jobs are a clear violation of our policies…should be connected to a real employer that’s actively hiring…" (A, 18:22)
• LinkedIn: Policies require real, verified postings; automatic closure after six months; stricter recruiter verification introduced recently. (A, 18:33)

7. Advice for Job Seekers (18:48–19:58)

• Dr. Escalera’s Tips:
  • Network: Direct conversation with company employees is the surest way to confirm a job’s reality.
  • Watch for Red Flags: Repeated postings, or jobs open for more than 2–4 weeks, may signal ghost jobs. "If you see that a job is being posted multiple times during a certain timeframe or that the job posting has been around and open for a while…there is a little bit of a question there that you have to ask..." (F, 19:23)
  • Exercise due diligence and intentional research before applying.

---

Memorable Quotes

• "I dread to think how many times that this has happened to me. And it’s scary how rife it is."
  — Eilish (E, 03:00)

• "We have in our bill...information that is required to be part of every job posting. And everybody who posts the job has to validate that information so that they know it's real, they know it exists."
  — Eric Thompson (D, 07:05)

• "It's just a horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
  — Eilish, on being ghosted after an interview (E, 09:55)

• "We use this data to develop policy...[but] if that data is somehow skewed, then we're not really able to create the policies or the support that job seekers and employees need right now."
  — Dr. Jasmine Escalera (F, 15:09)

• "Looking for a job is a full-time job and you actually work harder looking for a job than when you've actually got the job."
  — Eilish (E, 08:28)

---

Major Segments & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |-------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:13 | Introduction to the concept of “ghost jobs” | | 02:38-03:20 | Eilish discusses the impact of ghost jobs on her job search | | 04:00-04:56 | Ontario’s upcoming legislation explained | | 05:24-08:12 | Eric Thompson’s journey, research, and advocacy work | | 09:43-09:55 | Eilish’s first-hand account of being “ghosted” after an interview | | 13:10-13:41 | Dr. Escalera on companies' motivations for ghost jobs | | 15:09-15:35 | Ghost jobs’ impact on employment data and policy | | 17:14-18:13 | Shortcomings of new US state-level laws | | 18:13-18:48 | Job platforms' statements and steps to address ghost postings | | 18:48-19:58 | Dr. Escalera’s job seeker advice |

---

Conclusion

The rise of ghost jobs is causing widespread frustration for job seekers and distorting employment data used for economic policy. While new laws and awareness campaigns are emerging, enforcement challenges remain. Job seekers are encouraged to network, look out for telltale red flags, and conduct deliberate research to avoid wasting time on non-existent roles.

---

Transcript

[A]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

[B]

Hey, Ryan, that was a fast trip.

[A]

It was like you teleported.

[B]

Yeah, just got in.

[C]

I'll get all my expenses logged, I promise.

[B]

Oh, no, you're okay. SAP Concur uses advanced AI so your expense report will practically write itself. Quite the breakthrough. It's like we've been teleported into the future. All right, so just curious, would you give us written permission to convert your matter into energy patterns and reassemble you.

[A]

At, say, random travel destinations?

[B]

Margaret, are you building a teleporter? No.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

SAP Concur helps your business move forward faster. Learn more at concur.

[B]

Com.

[A]

The pressure never lets up. Deadlines Payroll strategy. You're expected to see everything, know everything and act fast. You need intuit QuickBooks Payroll, the all in one team management solution with QuickBooks Payroll, time tracking payroll and accounting work together. Automated, integrated and effortless. See every dollar, every hour and every job cost in one place. QuickBooks Payroll gives you freedom, control and confidence so you can focus on what matters most quick growing your business. Learn [e-mail] payroll that's quickbooks.com payroll.

[B]

Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Megan Lawton.

[E]

Today, it's not just across certain industries and it's not just across certain businesses.

[B]

A word you might associate with dating now appearing in the job market.

[E]

I've been ghosted by small businesses and I've also been ghosted by big corporations.

[B]

We're talking about ghost jobs, fake, outdated or placeholder job listings that companies post without any real intention of filling the position.

[E]

As many as four in 10 companies say they have posted a job listing this year that simply doesn't exist, while 3 in 10 say that they are currently advertising for a role that isn't real.

[B]

That seems in the US and it's a similar picture where I am in Canada and the UK too. Today we'll learn why companies post these listings.

[F]

This hurts the job seeker so much. And so the question becomes, is this really ethical for a company to do?

[B]

Meet the applicants who've applied for jobs that don't exist.

[D]

It took my breath away and was a little overwhelming to know that I wasn't alone in the dark.

[B]

And look at the efforts being made to stop the practice that's coming up on today's Business Daily. When was the last time you applied for a job? Talk to any job seeker and they will likely tell you that applications are time consuming.

[E]

I will spend like a typical working day looking for Jobs. So a good eight hours.

[B]

That's Eilish. She's based in the UK and after being made redundant last year, she's come across plenty of so called ghost jobs. The term describes listings for seemingly open roles which companies have no intention of actually filling.

[E]

If I had a pound for how many times this has happened to me, I would no longer need to work because I would be sipping a margarita on a beach somewhere because I would have all the money in the world. I dread to think how many times that this has happened to me. And it's scary how rife it is.

[B]

We'll be back with Eilish a little later. Before then, let's take a look at an online job board for ourselves. So in front of me I can see openings in hospitality and the tech industry too. Now I'm based in Toronto, which is in the province of Ontario in Canada. And most of the jobs I'm looking at are in this province, in cities like Ottawa and Kingston. And just looking now, if we look for the details about when these jobs were posted or whether the company behind them is actively filling the job, that detail is isn't available. But in the new year that's going to change, at least in this province.

[C]

Our Ontario government has been implementing lots of new legislation over the last several years that to help employees. And this is just one of those things.

[B]

This is Toronto based employment lawyer Deborah Hudson.

[C]

So effective January 1, 2026, there's a new legislation coming in. It will amend the esa, the Employment Standards act and it has several aspects about this job posting situations.

[B]

The law change is for firms with 25 or more employees.

[C]

First part is to increase transparency.

[B]

When the new law comes in, companies will be legally required to Update candidates within 45 days of a job interview whether a decision has been made or not, and disclose whether a vacancy is actively being filled.

[C]

You know, we're talking about this, we're hopeful for change, we're hopeful for transparency and we just are looking for fairness, reduction in bias in hiring. We don't want to waste people's time applying for jobs that don't actually exist.

[B]

What's happening here in Ontario is ahead of the curve and it's considered the first authority to create legislation to stop the practice. In most places, companies have no legal requirement to reply to every applicant. A quick scroll through Internet forums and you'll find pages full of users advising one another on how to avoid ghost jobs in Washington D.C. in the US, Eric Thompson is hoping to make a change with the help of Congress.

[D]

In 2022 was the first time I ever heard the term. And then it came to hit home in 2023 when a friend of mine was laid off and he started complaining that he couldn't find a job. He was getting ghosted by employers. And at the time I thought he was just crazy because who posts a fake job?

[B]

That was until last year when Eric was made redundant from his job in the tech industry and experienced the job market for himself.

[D]

Through November and December, I did the job hunt thing, looking for everything under the sun, applying for as many positions, and I was trying to up position myself at the time. So I was trying to advance my career and I started looking and then I got to the point where I was doing making lateral move applications. Then from there I was making downgrade moves to go back to being an individual contributor. I started looking more and more and I kept finding more and more jobs that just weren't responsive. So I started digging into people I knew who worked at the companies and reaching out and finding these jobs weren't real.

[B]

There's strong evidence to suggest millions of jobs in the US never actually materialize. In June, employers reported 7.4 million openings, but made only 5.2 million hires. That's according to US government data.

[D]

So we were finding more and more dishonest uses of job postings. And we said, well, how do we fix this?

[B]

Eric's experience of the job market pushed him to create the Truth in Job Advertising and Accountability Working Group, which is now proposing nationwide laws in the US to ban the practice of ghost jobs.

[D]

We came back and we approached it from two different points of view. The first point of view was how do we make sure a job is real? Well, we give a lot of information about the job that may not be out there. That was basically a nutrition label. And we have in our bill we have this information that is required to be part of every job posting. And everybody who posts the job has to validate that information and so that they know it's real, they know it exists. And then we also said that as part of that, you have to do proper notifications. So you can't just leave a job up forever, even if it's been filled. You can't just leave people in the dark. I put in myself over 3,000 resumes in the time I was looking for a position and I got back less than 100 responses and got less than five interview requests during that time because of so many fake job postings.

[B]

Alongside his proposed bill, he's also started a petition to ban the practice of Ghost jobs, as of recording it has over 50,000 signatures worldwide.

[D]

It took my breath away and was a little overwhelming to know that I wasn't alone in the dark. And I mean, I was so happy to get 50 people because I felt that I was screaming into the dark at one point.

[B]

It's something Ailish, who we heard from earlier, can relate to.

[E]

I always say that looking for a job is a full time job and you actually work harder looking for a job than you do when you're, when you've actually got the job.

[B]

After working in marketing for a decade last year she was made redundant. She's now employed, but described to me a typical day when she was job seeking.

[E]

You are looking at the job description and you are picking it apart with, right, how do I link that to my experience if I was ever to be offered an interview? And that can take hours in itself. And then there's the researching part of it which again, it's not a something where you just log onto your phone and look at them and say, oh yeah, okay, they've got LinkedIn or they've got a website, that's fine. You've, you've got to look into these things and then it comes to researching the people that work for those companies and potentially reaching out to hiring managers. And it's, it's not something that just takes an hour of your day and then you can go back to having coffee with friends like this. This is a full, this is a full time job in, in itself.

[B]

During one application process, Eilish was invited for an interview but never heard back from the recruiter. Which highlights another issue facing job seekers. What's known as being ghosted.

[E]

I had. So I'd, I'd be made redundant. I'd, I'd applied for this role. I was invited down to an interview and I gave my availability and then that was it. I didn't hear anything. I then throughout that week I thought I'll give it a couple of days because people are busy. But then when the availability that I gave was creeping up, I was messaging again to say, just wondering if you're still interested in speaking with me because I'm still very much interested in the role and got absolutely. And it does just knock you down when you've built your confidence back up with the potential of an interview to then be completely left in the dark. It is, it's just, it's a horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

[B]

You're listening to Business Daily from the BBC World Service.

[G]

Hear that? It's holiday cheer arriving at Ulta Beauty with gifts for everyone on your list. Treat them to fan favorite gift sets from Charlotte Tilbury and Peach and Lily. Go all out with timeless fragrances from ysl, Ariana Grande and Carolina Herrera and you can never go wrong with an Ulta Beauty gift card. Head to Ulta Beauty for gifts that make the holidays brighter and even more beautiful. Ulta Beauty gifting happens here.

[H]

If you're searching for a gift that creates lasting memories, the story Dream Machine is a wonderful choice. It's perfect for birthdays, milestones or holidays holidays and each machine comes with three enchanting stories to start the journey. There's even a white noise nightlight mode making it a cozy companion for bedtime. Want to make it even more special? Add story collections sold separately and share the tales you cherished from your own childhood. It's a heartfelt way to connect across generations and spark imagination. Get your little one the gift to make their bedtime magical with enchanting stories and even a white noise night light mode to keep them cozy while they sleep. The story Dream Machine is perfect for birthdays, milestones or holidays, and each comes with three stories with more story collections available to share your favorite tales to make it even more special. Sold separately, you'll find the story Dream Machine at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Costco and LittleTikes.com bring story time to life with the story Dream Machine.

[B]

Megan I'm Megan Lawton. Today the job seekers applying for jobs that don't actually exist. The number of ghost jobs that's job postings for non existent roles are on the rise.

[E]

Well, the US labor market is looking strong at the moment thanks to low unemployment and a high number of job openings. But that hasn't actually made it easier necessarily for some job seekers to find work.

[B]

As we heard from Eric and Eilish, the impact on job seekers is crushing. So why are companies posting fake listings?

[F]

What we have found before surveying hiring managers is that there's a range of reasons why companies might be doing this.

[B]

Dr. Jasmine Escalera is a career coach and recruitment expert based in Miami.

[F]

They might be posting these positions to actually create a talent pool. It isn't that they don't want to hire, but they may not be hiring immediately because of budget cuts or other reasons, and they want to basically create that pool of resumes for later hiring. But they also could potentially be inflating numbers so trying to show that the company or organization is growing when they're actually not.

[B]

Dr. Escalera tells me she's also heard instances of companies selling the data they obtain from job applications, as has Eric.

[D]

We were finding out that there are firms out there, especially overseas, that post fake jobs and then they collect the data and they data mine resumes for insights into companies.

[B]

As someone who works closely with both employers and employees, I wanted to get Dr. Escalera's thoughts on whether there can ever be a good reason for posting a ghost job.

[F]

There's merit there if there is an intention to hire. So what about one of the things about the data that we explored for my perfect resume was we don't, we're looking at a gap. We're looking at the number of positions posted and the number of hirings within a specific time frame. We don't know if all of those jobs are ghost jobs because it's quite possible that there is an intention to hire at some point. Now that's the thing. If you're posting a position and you do intend to hire, but your hiring process is lengthy, let's say for government roles or you hit budget cuts, it's important for you to of course, verbalize and vocalize that to individuals who are applying to your job. But the intention is there to eventually bring someone on.

[B]

But as well as fairness to job seekers, there's another important reason why Dr. Escalera thinks we should be wary of ghost jobs.

[F]

We use this data to develop policy. We use this data to understand what market trends look like when we're thinking about the job market. And so if that data is somehow skewed, then we're not really able to create the policies or the support, support that job seekers and employees need right now. So it's essential that when we are looking at this and when we are creating policy around this, that we understand what the data really means.

[B]

Job seekers have told us ghost jobs are demoralizing and time wasting. And recruitment experts say they're also damaging to economic data and any targeted help. But will changes to the law be able to do anything about it? Back in Ontario, Canada, employment lawyer Deborah Hudson isn't getting her hopes up just yet.

[C]

My cynical side, just because I've been doing this for almost 20 years, says, like, how are they actually going to monitor and regulate this? Like, you know, I don't think that the government has resources to be, you know, having investigations on what's happening or not. So I think that to some extent employers will be able to get away with non compliance. However, I'm, you know, if people see an issue, they can Make a complaint and it will be looked into. So I'm hoping it will affect some change. But there's always, you know, outliers who might not comply.

[B]

Interestingly, some people think ghost jobs are now a much more well known phenomenon because job seekers are posting about their experiences on platforms like LinkedIn or other social media platforms and they're naming companies. I guess the same thing might happen here.

[C]

Yeah, I think that exactly it's going to be sort of complaint driven rather than proactive. But you know, a lot of employers do want to do the right thing. You know, we're getting questions in on this and you. So I do think it will help to some extent. But you're right. Like, you know, I've known employees who have applied for jobs that they're so qualified for and they haven't even got any sort of preliminary interview and it makes you question, you know, what's actually going on here.

[B]

As well as efforts by Eric Thompson, there's also work being done across individual US states like California and New Jersey.

[D]

Most of them have to do with labeling. If you are posting a contingent job, it has to be blatantly said it's contingent or if it's a standing job, they have to put those in.

[B]

But Eric is dubious that that will work.

[D]

What we said is they don't have teeth, they don't have that economic incentive for companies to behave because a lot of them don't have fines, a lot of them don't have the penalties to enforce the behavior and they're at a state level. So we find in the United States and I think you're going to find this in Canada with Toronto doing something independent is you're going to find not running job ads in that state. You'll see them move to the state that isn't limiting them. They'll still be advertising for a job in that state or they'll be doing it online from a company based outside of the jurisdiction so that they can skirt the law.

[B]

I reached out to job platforms LinkedIn and indeed to find out what their approach is to combating ghost jobs. Indeed told us ghost jobs are a.

[A]

Clear violation of our policies and job postings on the platform should be connected to a real employer that's actively hiring for a particular role.

[B]

A LinkedIn spokesperson told us its policies.

[A]

Make it clear that every job on the platform must be authentic and accurately represented, adding it automatically closes listings after six months and has recently introduced mandatory verification for anyone adding a recruiter title.

[B]

Recruitment expert Dr. Jasmine Escalera has this Advice for Job Seekers the best thing.

[F]

To do, and I'm sure job seekers have heard this in many different iterations, is network. You will know if a position is real if you're having conversations with real humans who work at that organization or company. Not every position is a ghost job, and we want job seekers to understand that there has to be an intention behind the research and the data gathering for the positions you're applying for.

[B]

Her other advice look out for the red flags if you see that a.

[F]

Job is being posted multiple times during a certain time frame or that the job posting has been around and open for a while. So I would say anything more than two weeks or 30 days, there is a little bit of a question there that you have to ask, especially because now we do hear so many job seekers saying I see hundreds of applicants within the first 24 hours. So that leads me to believe that this isn't a talent pool issue when posting Stay open open. It's possible that the posting is saying open because the job is not intending to be filled.

[B]

Thank you to Dr. Escalera and to all of my guests. You've been listening to Business Daily on the BBC World Service with me, Megan Lawton. This episode was produced by Sam Grouet, and you can find more episodes wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

[G]

While holiday shopping is almost always fun, credit can be confusing. Download the MyFico app now and sh with confidence, knowing that you can stay on top of your credit 24. 7. Get your FICO score straight from the people that created it, plus free credit monitoring and a free credit report every month. No credit card required. FICO scores are used by over 90% of lenders, so trust the MyFico app to keep you in the know. Visit myfico.com free or download the MyFico app today.