Recently, a study published by Cornell University revealed an alarming statistic: 21% of job postings are what are known as “ghost jobs”! But what exactly are ghost jobs? They are the unethical practice of keeping job positions open in the labor market, even when there is no real intention to fill them in the short term. This is done in order to generate a pipeline of candidates for future positions, without informing applicants about this reality.
It’s sad to think that this practice has become common in the recruitment world. Fortunately, at Joppy, we are against such actions. While many have requested that this strategy be implemented, we stand firm in our position: the candidate always comes first. If talent is not being actively sought, there should be no available job opening.
This issue is primarily seen in large corporations and scale-ups, companies that are always on the lookout for developers and are trying to constantly build a pool of candidates. However, this approach has clear and negative consequences.
On one hand, candidates may believe that there is a real opportunity in the short term, when in fact there isn’t. Many tech professionals tend to be actively looking for jobs for periods of 3 to 4 months, and it’s very likely that they will receive an offer in that time frame. By the time a company reaches out to them, they may no longer be interested or may have already found a job.
On the other hand, this practice severely damages the employer branding of the company. Candidates, who are not informed about the existence of ghost jobs, often feel misled and frustrated by the lack of feedback from the company.
It’s crucial to understand that the goal of a recruitment department, although it may seem contradictory, is not just to create a candidate pipeline. No one can guarantee that those positions will open up in the future. Recruiting is not the same as lead marketing. Instead of constantly generating fresh databases of candidates, the recruiter’s role should be to be relevant in the moment when talent is actually needed.
The recruitment world needs to change its focus and think more about the candidate. It’s not about anticipating future needs but about being pertinent when a need actually arises.
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