This is the season of hiring. Log in to your LinkedIn account and right from brands and advertising agencies to PR shops, there seem to be a wide spectrum of vacant positions being prominently advertised.

But, wait, take a step back and think. What if the vacant position advertised has been making the rounds on social media platforms for months? What if the roles advertised don’t exist or are no longer vacant or simply that there is no intention to hire?

This is the phenomenon identified as ghost job posting or listing.

In 2024, as per a report by Resume Builder accessed by Moneycontrol, four out of every 10 companies in the study admitted to posting fake job listings—where there was no intent to hire—and 40 percent were found to have published ghost jobs, or positions that did not exist.

In a recent conversation with Storyboard18, Jaideep Kewalramani, chief operating officer and head of employability, TeamLease Edtech, said this has been rampant, especially in the technology, BFSI or banking, financial services and insurance, and B2C or business-to-consumer segments.

Speaking of its presence in marketing and advertising, the issue ranges anywhere from two percent to 10 percent, he added.

But the figures shared by AVSAR, a recruitment consulting and outsourcing company, with Storyboard18 say the prevalence is far higher, suggesting that 15-20 percent of all such listings fall in this sector.

However, Ishan Uchil, managing partner, The Job Shop, a recruitment agency specialising in advertising industry placements, said that he has seen a dip in such posts by ad agencies this fiscal compared to last year.

How rampant is it in advertising?

The practice of ghost job postings has been around for over a decade but has picked up in the last five years. Arantxa Aquino, lead, HR and talent experience at Bengaluru-based Talented, states that ghost job listings picked up pace during and immediately after the Covid-19 period.

AVSAR links its growth to the rise of digital marketing, freelance and contract-based work. Once seen as an industry secret, today, ghost job postings are a recognised element of recruitment in advertising and marketing.

Aalap Desai, co-founder and chief creative officer at ad agency tgthr, who termed this phenomenon as a ‘recent bug’ in the advertising system, said that its growth is dependent on agencies’ hiring cycles.

“A disturbing fact I noticed during one of my stints was that it peaks just before appraisals so that the HR team can prepare a bank of candidates in case people quit after a bad appraisal. HR knows the intensity of the attrition post the appraisals. It would be so much better if they just gave fair appraisals every year but that, unfortunately, is not the case,” said Desai.

Why does this happen?

TeamLease Edtech’s Kewalramani put this down as a means to create a false sense of high growth, brand value and to gather market information. Apart from such posts reflecting the lack of organisation controls and ethics, sometimes this technique is used by recruiters to develop a talent supply chain and keep the hiring engines warm.

Desai highlighted how ghost job listings have gained power on the desperation of the large number of people looking out for jobs. He also pointed out the sad fact that some candidates do not think of applying anywhere else or refuse backup offers.

Moreover, he said that in many cases, even after the spot has been filled, they forget to take down the advertised vacant role.

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