Hiring3 min read
Companies Are Admitting to Posting Fake Jobs. Here Is Why
September 13, 2026Read →
New data shows ghosting has become the norm in hiring, not the exception. Here is what is actually happening and what to do about it.
If you have applied to a job recently and heard nothing back, you are not imagining it and you are not alone. Ghosting has become one of the most common complaints in the modern job search, and recent survey data backs that up. Nearly half of job seekers now name being ghosted by an employer as one of their single biggest frustrations in the hiring process.
The math is simple and unflattering. A single posting on a major job board can now draw hundreds of applications within days, many of them submitted through automated tools that apply to dozens of jobs at once. Recruiters and hiring managers, often responsible for multiple open roles at the same time, are left sorting through volume that outpaces their capacity to respond to everyone individually.
That does not make silence acceptable. It does explain why it has become so common.
One detail often left out of the ghosting conversation is that it runs in both directions. Survey research on Gen Z hiring found that more than half of candidates in that generation admit to ghosting an employer after receiving a formal offer, whether by never completing paperwork, never showing up on day one, or disappearing after a few days on the job.
Career experts increasingly describe this as a learned behavior rather than a generational flaw. Candidates who have been ghosted themselves, repeatedly, by companies that never bothered to send a rejection email, are simply mirroring what they experienced.
A hiring process is one of the only windows a candidate gets into how a company actually operates before accepting a job there. When that process involves silence, canned rejections, or interviews that never get followed up on, it is reasonable to wonder what else might be handled the same way once you are an employee.
You cannot force a company to respond. You can control how much of your own time and hope you invest in any one process. A few practical habits help:
The Hiring Index exists because of exactly this problem. Every company profile is built from verified reports submitted by real candidates, showing actual response times and how often a company follows through, before you spend hours on an application.
Is it normal to never hear back after applying? It has become common, but that does not make it standard practice everywhere. Response rates vary significantly by company, which is exactly what verified report data can show.
How long should I wait before assuming I have been ghosted? There is no universal rule, but most reported timelines for an initial response fall within two to three weeks. A separate post on this site covers realistic timing in more detail.
Do companies get penalized for ghosting candidates on The Hiring Index? The platform does not penalize companies directly. It publishes verified, aggregated data on response rates and outcomes so candidates can make informed decisions for themselves.
See which companies have the highest ghost posting rates.
Open Ghost Postings Tracker →The Hiring Index editorial team analyzes hiring and separation data submitted by verified candidates across the US. Our research draws on 14,000+ firsthand reports to surface patterns in ghost posting behavior, hiring process quality, and separation practices. We publish data as we see it — without editorial bias toward any company.
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