Job hunting is often a challenging and time-consuming endeavour, with many obstacles to overcome. But the latest revelation about 'ghost jobs' in the United Kingdom has added a new layer of complexity to this already arduous process.
According to a comprehensive study conducted by StandOut CV - a prominent career and CV expert firm - a staggering 34.4 percent of job advertisements listed online have been identified as 'ghost jobs,' a deceptive practice that leaves job seekers disheartened and frustrated.
Ghost jobs are a disingenuous recruitment practice in which companies create fake job openings for their own benefit. These openings may either never have existed or have already been filled, but the companies leave them posted on job boards to build a pool of candidates for future hiring or to create the illusion of company growth. Unfortunately, this practice means that job seekers often waste valuable time and effort applying for jobs that don't lead to real interviews.
StandOut CV's analysis - led by Director Andrew Fennell - scrutinised a substantial 91,318 job listings across the 30 largest cities, towns and boroughs in the UK. The research focused on the number of jobs posted and those that remained 'live' but had been advertised for '30+ days,' indicating a high probability of being a ghost job. The data, gathered on 19th May 2023, and re-evaluated on 27th June 2023, revealed that over a third of job listings in the UK fell under the 'ghost job' category, highlighting a persistent issue within the job market.
The study also unveiled geographic variations in the prevalence of ghost jobs. The London borough of Islington emerged as the worst area for ghost jobs, with a staggering 26.1 percent of job listings found to be fraudulent. Southend-On-Sea followed closely behind with 23.7 percent of job listings being ghost jobs.
Interestingly, larger cities had a much lower ghost job rate, with London, Edinburgh, and Bristol having some of the lowest percentages of ghost jobs, likely due to a busier job market where jobs are filled faster and better recruiter administration in removing filled job listings.
Certain professions are also more susceptible to encountering ghost job listings than others. Veterinary nurses topped the list as the most likely victims of this deceptive practice, with a startling 59.1 percent of job listings in this sector found to be ghost jobs. Software engineers followed closely behind, with 46.5 percent of job listings in their field identified as fake.
But what drives this concerning trend? Unfortunately, there is no law against ghost job adverts in the UK, but it would not reflect well on a company if they were found to be using them. A 2022 survey found that 50 percent of managers admitted to using ghost job ads to attract more candidates for future job openings, while 43 percent used them to create the illusion of company growth when it wasn't the case. While this practice may benefit recruiters in the short term, it leaves job seekers frustrated and their time and effort wasted on non-existent job opportunities.
