Employers across America are advertising positions they have no intention of filling, leaving job seekers frustrated and lawmakers demanding action.
The practice, known as “ghost jobs,” affects a staggering number of online job postings.
Up to 22 percent of jobs advertised online last year were positions listed with no intent to hire, according to a study across the US, UK and Germany by recruitment software provider Greenhouse.
A separate UK study put the figure even higher, at 34 percent.
The most recent official data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that while there were 7.2 million job vacancies back in August, only 5.1 million people were hired.
One tech worker is now leading the charge to expose this deceptive hiring practice.
Eric Thompson, who has more than 20 years of experience in the tech sector, was made redundant from a start-up in October of last year.
He spent the following two months unsuccessfully applying for hundreds of jobs.
Thompson looked at everything under the sun, applying for positions at his current level, and ones that were more senior and junior.
Thompson realized that some of the advertised jobs simply didn’t exist.
The experience led him to set up a working group calling for legislation to ban the practice of fake job adverts in the US, the BBC reported.
Continuing to meet with members of the US Congress, he has led the formulation of proposed legislation called The Truth in Job Advertising & Accountability Act.
This calls for expiration dates for listings when hiring is paused or completed, auditable hiring records and penalties for employers who post misleading or non-existent roles.
Thompson has also started a petition, which has so far generated over 50,000 signatures.
Alongside the signatures, he receives messages from people describing how ghost jobs have chipped away at their confidence and impacted their mental health.
State legislatures are beginning to take notice of the problem.
The New Jersey and California state legislatures are also looking at banning ghost jobs.
The Canadian province of Ontario is leading the way.
As from January companies will have to disclose whether an advertised vacancy is actively being filled, CNBC reported.
Ontario is also moving to tackle the separate recruitment issue of “ghosting,” whereby companies don’t reply to applicants.
Firms in the province with more than 25 employees will now have to reply to someone they have interviewed within 45 days.
Deborah Hudson, an employment lawyer based in Toronto, says she’s already been approached by companies “trying to get it right.” However, she has concerns about how the rules will be enforced.
“My cynical side, after almost 20 years in this field, wonders how they’re actually going to monitor and regulate this,” Hudson said.
“I don’t think the government has the resources to investigate, so employers may still get away with noncompliance.”
“But if people run into problems, they can make a complaint and it will be looked into,” she continued.
Elsewhere in Canada, and in the US and UK, there is no legal requirement to reply to candidates.
There are currently no moves in the UK to tackle either ghost jobs or recruitment ghosting.
