A ghost job is a term referring to the practice of employers advertising vacancies that do not exist. In some cases, positions may already be filled, but in others, the job may never have been available.
The rest of the article below the video:
As much as 22 percent job offers posted online last year were for positions for which the employer had no intention of hiring anyone, according to a study conducted in the US, UK and Germany by recruitment software provider Greenhous.
Another study conducted in Great Britain showed that this percentage is even higher, at 34%.
The Canadian province of Ontario decided to put an end to this practice. From January 1, companies will have to disclose whether the position advertised is being actively filled, writes the BBC.
See also: Stable job? These 17 professions have guaranteed demand in 2026.
Has your employer ghosted you? Not in Ontario
Ontario is also taking steps to address the problem of “ghosting” in the recruiting process, where companies fail to respond to applicants. Businesses in the province with more than 25 employees will now have to respond to the person they interviewed within 45 days.
However, employers will still not have to contact anyone they have not selected for an interview.
In other parts of Canada, as well as in the United States and the United Kingdom, there is no legal obligation to respond to applicants.
See also: Not all real people will experience an increase in wages. Two sectors win
Ghost ads. “They applied to a black hole”
Jasmine Escalera is a career counselor and recruitment expert based in Miami. She first encountered ghost offers thanks to the women she trained. “They kept seeing the same ad and asking me if they should apply again. They were applying into a black hole. The morale of every jobseeker is crushed,” says the BBC.
So why do companies make such announcements? Dr. Escalera's research points to a number of reasons.
“We surveyed hiring managers and found that some companies are advertising to build a talent pool,” he says. “It's not that they don't want to hire, it's that they don't hire right away.”
“Others, we discovered, inflated the numbers and tried to show that their company was growing even when it wasn't,” he adds.
Dr. Escalera adds that she has even heard of companies posting job ads to obtain and sell data.
Source: BBC
