Hiring3 min read
Companies Are Admitting to Posting Fake Jobs. Here Is Why
September 13, 2026Read →
State legislatures are stepping into the ghost job problem after new reporting on how widespread fake postings have become. Here is what is actually being proposed.
Ghost jobs have moved from a job-search grievance into an active legislative issue. The Wall Street Journal reported in August that frustration over postings employers never intended to fill has spread from online complaints to state capitols, with several states now considering real penalties for the practice.
According to the Journal's reporting, hiring platform Greenhouse examined its own client postings and found that close to one in five job ads placed online in the second quarter of 2026 showed no meaningful hiring activity after receiving applications, no reviewed submissions, no scheduled interviews, nothing. That figure does not mean every one of those postings was deliberately fake, but it captures how often an application disappears into genuine silence.
The Journal's reporting also followed a real job seeker's experience: a marketing professional in the Austin area who had applied to more than 3,000 positions since her last contract role ended in 2025, describing a search that stretched far longer than she had planned for.
Reporting has identified specific, real legislative activity, not just general concern. New York's legislature has passed a bill that would require employers to disclose expected hiring timelines and remove postings once a role is filled, with financial penalties for violations, and the measure is now under the governor's review. Pennsylvania has a similar proposal requiring honest hiring timelines. Additional lawmakers in other states have introduced comparable measures.
Part of the answer is structural. Posting a job online has become faster and cheaper than ever, which lowers the cost of leaving a listing up regardless of whether a company plans to actively fill it. Separate survey research cited alongside the Journal's reporting found that a meaningful share of hiring managers admit their own company has posted a listing without genuine intent to fill it, often to build a pipeline of resumes, signal growth to investors, or maintain leverage over current employees who might otherwise leave.
Legislation, if it passes, will take time to change practices on the ground, and enforcement details remain to be seen. In the meantime, the practical advice has not changed: treat a posting's duration and any visible signs of stalled hiring activity as real information, not something to ignore in the hope that persistence alone will pay off.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, "'Ghost Job' Ads Are Getting So Bad That Lawmakers Want to Ban Them," August 21, 2026
How many job postings are actually ghost jobs? Reporting citing Greenhouse's own client data put the figure at close to one in five postings in the second quarter of 2026, measured as ads that received applications but showed no further hiring activity.
Which states are considering ghost job legislation? New York has passed a bill awaiting the governor's review, and Pennsylvania has introduced a similar proposal requiring disclosed hiring timelines, according to reporting on the issue. Other states have introduced related measures.
Will this legislation stop ghost jobs entirely? It is too early to say. The proposals focus on disclosure and removal requirements with financial penalties, but enforcement and compliance will determine how much actual practice changes.
See which companies have the highest ghost posting rates.
Open Ghost Postings Tracker →The Hiring Index editorial team analyzes hiring and separation data submitted by verified candidates across the US. Our research draws on 14,000+ firsthand reports to surface patterns in ghost posting behavior, hiring process quality, and separation practices. We publish data as we see it — without editorial bias toward any company.
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