New York state Senate passes bill aiming to crack down on 'ghost job' postings

[ck4829]

"I see 'help wanted' signs everywhere..." Oh wait, what's this?

The New York state Senate this week passed a bill that aims to crack down on postings of so-called “ghost jobs.”

The legislation, which passed 39-19 in the upper chamber, would amend the state’s labor law to require job advertisements to disclose if and when an employer intends to hire someone for a position.

Pushed by Democratic state Sen. Mike Gianaris, the bill is in response to “ghost jobs,” which is often a position that looks open but is not. A ghost job might be a position that a company posts but has no actual intention of filling. Companies that post ghost jobs may do so to make them appear bigger than they actually are or make it appear that they are continuing to grow. They may also post the position but intend to actually hire for it months later.

A study by Clarify Capital, a team of small business veterans who help others make financial decisions, found that one in seven job postings were ghost jobs out of 175,000 live job listings on the third-party job website Indeed.

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2026/04/30/n-y--state-senate-passes-bill-to-crack-down-on--ghost-job--postings

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Ghost jobs are advertising for all involved

The websites, the employers, the recruiters. Some companies post the same job for months and months.

So, the jobs are all fake. Now, thanks to AI, the candidates all have fake resumes. Everyone is unrecognizable, to employers and to themselves.

As a result, all candidates look the same on paper. Match the job description, address gaps, upskill to skills you barely use and can't pronounce.

Best advice: ignore all that. Be yourself. Wow them with the real you.

[Diamond_Dog]

2. I had no idea this was a thing.

[ck4829]

3. It's bad

When I was between jobs two years ago, I used Indeed, I didn't land any jobs... but oh my, my email account, that at the time, I only used to look for jobs got absolutely filled with spam.

These weren't places that didn't exist... I googled them, they were all local employers, but here they are, putting up job advertisements, not hiring because they are ghost jobs, but selling our data like our email addresses.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. It seems like a very dishonest practice to me.

Glad someone is doing something about it.