Key Takeaways Ghost jobs are postings that never become real employment opportunities.
An analysis from AI resume builder MyPerfectResume shows that nearly one in three job opportunities are for ghost jobs.
There were 2.2 million ghost jobs posted in the U.S. in June alone.
Millions of job postings never lead to a hire, according to a new report.
AI resume builder MyPerfectResume used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data in an analysis published last week, which shows that nearly one in three U.S. job postings go nowhere. In other words, millions of open roles never materialize into real employment opportunities.
In June, for example, there were 7.4 million reported job openings in the U.S. but only 5.2 million hires, leaving over 2.2 million jobs, or 30% of roles, unfilled. Employers advertised these “ghost jobs,” but the roles remained vacant.
“On paper, the labor market looks full of opportunity, but in reality, millions of these postings are illusions,” says Jasmine Escalera, career expert at MyPerfectResume. “Ghost jobs don’t just waste job-seekers’ time. They inflate hope, undermine confidence in employers and create blind spots in the economic data policymakers depend on.”
Related: ‘More Soul-Crushing Than Ever’: Popular Hiring Platform Finds Around 20% of Its Postings Were ‘Ghost Jobs’
The gap between openings and hires has existed for years, peaking in 2021 when job postings surged above 11 million, but only six or seven million people were hired. As many as 38% of job postings were for ghost jobs.
Since then, the gap has lingered. Today, the ghost job rate is between 28% and 32%, per the study.
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