The cycle of heartbreak is familiar to job seekers everywhere: They see an ad for a role with great pay and potential, spend time customizing a cover letter and resume, hit submit, and then…nothing.
The practice is growing as it becomes faster, cheaper and easier for employers to post jobs online. That included any posting that received at least one application but led to no hiring activity such as job-test submissions or scheduled interviews. She has cut down on meals and is moving in with her father in the coming weeks to stretch her dollars further. “Are you looking for a unicorn? Or is it not a real job? The New York state bill, approved by both houses of the legislature, calls for employers to disclose when they expect an advertised role to be filled and levies fines for violations. A spokeswoman for Gov. In Pennsylvania, Prokopiak’s bill moved to the state House’s Labor and Industry Committee in the spring.
Around 19% of jobs advertised on digital job boards in the second quarter were ghost jobs, according to Greenhouse, a hiring platform that examined its clients’ job postings. Heather Sanford, a 44-year-old marketing professional in the Austin, Texas, area, has been looking for work since her last contract role ended in May 2025. She’s applied for more than 3,000 jobs, she said, while slowly draining the nearly $40,000 in savings she once had.
“When people are putting the time and effort into applying, there’s a reasonable expectation that there is a job out there,” said Jim Prokopiak, a member of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives whose bill would require employers to list accurate hiring intentions and establish timelines to remove posts. “If you’ve posted a job and you have 500 applicants, are you telling me not one or two or three are qualified?” she said. Kathy Hochul said she’ll review the legislation when it gets to her desk.
“Maybe a job that was approved all of a sudden isn’t approved, or I’m trying to figure out how to fill it internally rather than externally. All of that is making this unpleasant experience a little more pronounced.” Ghost jobs generally don’t show up in government labor statistics, which are based on surveys that ask employers to include only jobs that could start within 30 days and for which they are actively recruiting outside candidates. In June, U.S. job openings slipped to 7.4 million, according to the Labor Department.
Even some of those jobs don’t get filled, said Andy Nelesen, head of market strategy for the Americas at talent management firm SHL, which works with employers on recruiting. “There’s a lot of economic uncertainty, all of which has employers having to sometimes pause jobs, hold them, or rethink them,” he said.
