28% of job postings on company career sites have been open over 90 days

A new report on “ghost jobs” was released in September 2026 on an unlisted careers platform, drawing attention from the tech community. The document, titled Ghost Jobs Report 2026‑09, claims that roughly 12 % of job postings across major online boards are either fake, duplicated, or no longer active. It also identifies the most common industries affected—technology, finance, and marketing—and notes a rising trend in automated posting tools that generate these listings.

The report was compiled by scraping over 500,000 job ads from sites such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and niche industry boards. After cross‑checking each listing against company websites and direct employer contact, the authors flagged 62,400 entries as invalid. They argue that these “ghost jobs” inflate applicant numbers, distort hiring metrics, and waste job seekers’ time. The findings sparked a lively discussion on Hacker News (post ID 49818698), where the thread accumulated 74 points and 84 comments, with users debating verification methods and the role of job boards in policing listings.

Industry observers note that the report highlights a gap in current hiring practices and suggests that employers and platforms adopt stricter validation protocols. While the study has not yet prompted regulatory action, it has increased awareness of the prevalence of fraudulent or outdated job ads and may influence future policy discussions on transparency in online recruitment.