What percentage of job postings are ghost jobs in 2026?

Roughly one in five active postings. Greenhouse found 18 to 22 percent of postings on its own platform were never meant to be filled, and a January 2026 analysis flagged 27.4 percent of US LinkedIn listings as likely ghosts using a 30-day staleness proxy.

A ghost job is a real posting from a real company that has no intention of hiring anyone. Either the headcount does not exist or there is no urgency to fill it. It is not a scam. It is a real employer wasting your time.

How do I know if a job posting is real?

Run the 7-Point Ghost Job Test: posting age over 30 days, repost cycling, no salary band, no careers-page match, no named human, evergreen copy, and a zero-response history. Zero to two signals, apply normally. Five or more, skip it.

Are ghost jobs illegal?

Mostly no. As of January 1, 2026, Ontario requires employers with 25 or more staff to state in every public posting whether it is for a real vacancy, the first major law of its kind. In the US there is no federal equivalent.

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Is this job real, or a ghost? A pixel detective inspects a glowing ghost job posting flagged at 80 percent ghost likelihood.

Want the sources, the denominators, and the law? Read the full ghost jobs breakdown. Updated June 2026.

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Don't waste an application on a ghost.

Want the sources, the denominators, and the law? Read the full ghost jobs breakdown. Updated June 2026.