The recruitment process in 2026 is facing a trust problem as employers admit to ghosting candidates and intentionally posting job listings that they don't plan to fill immediately, according to a new report.

New findings from Resume Genius revealed that 86% of employers have ghosted a candidate because they have too many applicants to respond to, up from 79% in 2024.

The same percentage of employers said they ghosted a candidate because of their indecision (86%), while another 82% said it was because the jobseeker's salary expectations were beyond the available budget.

These challenges are in line with recent reports showing that employers are facing a surge in job applications as more jobseekers utilise AI in their job search.

But facing a high volume of applications is not a good excuse for ghosting candidates, according to Geoff Scott, Senior Hiring Manager at Resume Genius.

"Candidates invest hours in applications and interviews — even a brief update can give them closure. Plus it makes the employers look like they actually care, which should be helpful for their reputation," Scott said.

Misleading, ghost jobs harm trust

Ghosting candidates is just one of the factors that's undermining trust in the hiring landscape of 2026, Resume Genius said, noting that misleading and ghost jobs are also in play.

According to the report, 90% of hiring managers are intentionally putting up ghost jobs, or listings that they don't plan to fill immediately.

Hiring managers describe ghost jobs as a deliberate pipeline-building tool that they use for a variety of reasons:

• Building a pool of candidates for future openings (47%)
• Signalling growth or stability to investors, clients, or competitors (34%)
• Internal HR policy requiring a role to be advertised externally before an internal candidate is appointed (31%)

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