What Is a Ghost Job? Why Companies Post Them and Whether They’re Legal

A ghost job is a job posting for a role the company is not actively trying to fill. The company is real and the listing looks normal, but nobody is going to be hired from it any time soon. Hiring platform Greenhouse says 18% to 22% of the jobs posted on its platform in a typical quarter fit that description, or about one in five.

This guide covers what a ghost job is, why companies post them, whether they are illegal, and how to spot one before you spend an evening on the application. For the full data, see our ghost job statistics for 2026.

The short version

• What it is: a listing for a role with no current plan to hire. Also called a phantom job posting or ghost position.
• Why it happens: mostly to collect resumes for later, look like the company is growing, or meet an internal rule to post every role.
• Is it illegal? Not in the US as of October 2026. Ontario, Canada now requires job ads to say whether a vacancy exists, and New York’s bill is waiting on the governor.
• How to spot one: old posting dates, no listing on the company’s own careers page, and the same role reposted after you were turned down.

What is a ghost job?

Greenhouse defines ghost jobs as positions advertised with no intent to hire. In practice, the label covers a few different situations:

• The job was filled, but the ad stayed up. Someone forgot to close it, or a job board copied the ad and never took it down. Congressional researchers have pointed to third-party boards that automatically copy postings from other sites as one source of ghost jobs (HR Dive).
• The job is a pipeline posting. The company wants resumes on file for a role it may open later, but there is no budget or headcount today.
• The job already has a candidate. An internal person or a referral has the role, but company policy says it must be posted publicly first.
• The job is there for show. Open roles make a company look busy and growing to customers, investors and its own staff.

You will also see the terms phantom job postings, ghost positions and ghost hiring. They all mean the same thing.

Ghost job vs. job scam vs. being ghosted

These three get mixed up a lot, but they are different problems.

A scam usually asks you for money, bank details or your Social Security number early on. A ghost job just never goes anywhere. And being ghosted by a recruiter or hiring manager can happen on a perfectly real job; it is a communication problem, not a fake listing. If a recruiter is the one going quiet, our guide to red flags to look for in recruiters can help.

Why do companies post ghost jobs?

Employers are fairly open about it. In a June 2026 Resume Genius survey of 1,500 US hiring managers, 90% said companies intentionally post jobs they do not plan to fill right away. The top reasons were:

• Building a pool of future candidates (47%). Having resumes ready means a faster hire when the role is approved.
• Signaling growth or stability (34%). A careers page full of openings reads as a healthy company.
• An HR rule to post externally (31%). Some companies must post every role publicly, even when they already plan to promote from within.

An older Resume Builder survey from 2024 found less flattering motives too. Among companies that admitted posting fake listings, most said they wanted to make current employees feel replaceable or expect help with their workload. Budget freezes are another common cause: a role gets approved, posted, then put on hold, and nobody takes the ad down.

Not every long-running posting is a ghost job, though. Senior engineering and specialized technical roles often take more than a month to fill because the right candidate is hard to find.

Are ghost jobs illegal?

In the United States, no. As of October 2026, no federal law bans posting a job you do not plan to fill, and no state ghost job law is in force. That is changing slowly, and the first rules focus on disclosure rather than outright bans.

New York’s bill is the one to watch. Bills there often reach the governor late in the year, and once a bill is delivered she has 10 days to sign or veto it (National Law Review). A broader version was vetoed in 2025 (Reed Smith). If signed, it takes effect immediately. Our ghost job statistics page keeps a fuller tracker of these bills.

Regulators are also asking questions. In June 2026, Senator Ruben Gallego asked the Department of Labor and the FTC whether ghost jobs could count as deceptive advertising (Staffing Industry Analysts). In July 2026, the Texas Attorney General opened an investigation into LinkedIn over ghost jobs and its Premium subscriptions (FOX 7 Austin); no lawsuit has been filed.

This is general information, not legal advice. Employers with questions about a specific posting should talk to an employment lawyer.

Why are ghost jobs legal?

Mostly because no law says a job ad has to be for a job that exists today. A posting is not a contract, and companies change hiring plans all the time for real reasons: budgets get cut, projects get cancelled, a manager leaves. Writing a law that punishes a fake listing without punishing an honest change of plans is hard, which is why the bills so far ask employers to disclose their intent instead of banning anything. Whether general false-advertising laws already cover ghost jobs is an open question; that is what Senator Gallego asked the FTC.

Should ghost jobs be illegal?

Supporters of new rules point to the cost for job seekers. In a Greenhouse survey, 69% of US job seekers said they had run into fake job postings, and listings that never lead to a hire can also make the job market look stronger than it is.

Employers and business groups counter that pipeline postings are a normal part of hiring, that roles get legitimately paused, and that new disclosure rules add paperwork and fines for honest mistakes. New York’s approach sits in the middle: it does not ban pipeline postings, but it makes employers say what they are.

How to tell if a job posting is a ghost job

No single sign proves a posting is fake, but several together are a good reason to move on.

1. It has been up for 30 days or more. A Kickresume study of nearly 97,000 Indeed ads in September 2026 found 34% had been posted at least 30 days earlier, and 43% in technology.
2. It is not on the company’s own careers page. If it only appears on job boards, it may have been filled or pulled.
3. It comes back after you were rejected. The same role reposted again and again with no one hired is a classic sign.
4. It is vague. No pay range, no team, no tools or skills named, and no start date.
5. The company is cutting jobs. Lots of openings at a company with recent layoffs deserves a second look. Our layoff statistics track 2026 cuts by industry.

The simplest test is to ask. On a first call, ask when the role needs to be filled and whether it is approved and budgeted. A real opening has a real answer.

What to do if you think you applied to one

• Follow up once. A short note to the recruiter or hiring manager after a week or two is fair. If there is still no answer, move on.
• Put fresh postings first. Spend most of your time on roles posted in the last two weeks.
• Use sources tied to real searches. Agency recruiters are paid when a role is filled, so ask any recruiter whether the opening is tied to an active client search. Our guide to the best job search websites compares where else to look.
• Never pay to apply. That is a scam, not a ghost job.

For a sense of how long searches take and how many applications people send, see our job search statistics.

For employers: how to avoid looking like a ghost job

Candidates now expect ghost jobs, so a posting that is clearly real stands out. Put the pay range and a target start date in the ad. Take filled roles down within two weeks, which New York’s bill would require anyway. If you are building a pipeline, say so in the ad. And post once the role is approved; see when is the best time to post a job.

If you are hiring engineers, IT or supply chain professionals and want the role in front of real candidates fast, send Apollo Technical a hire request. Looking for work? Browse our open jobs.

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