Hiring Manager Was Fired For Refusing To Post ‘Ghost Jobs’ To ‘Motivate’ Their Current Workers
"It's a disgusting business practice."
AndreyPopov from Getty Images | Canva Pro It's no secret that applying for jobs in this economy is becoming increasingly harder. Whether it's because of how extensive the interview processes have become or the fact that companies are increasingly posting fake job listings on career sites like LinkedIn and Indeed, job seekers are fed up with the lack of transparency.
It seems that hiring managers aren't really given a choice about fake job listings, which seemed to be the case for a man named Ceros Whaley. In a TikTok video, Whaley claimed that after speaking out against the idea of posting "ghost jobs" for job seekers, he was reprimanded and subsequently lost his job entirely.
A hiring manager said he was fired for refusing to post 'ghost jobs' to motivate current workers.
"I got fired from my second job because I wouldn't post a ghost job," Whaley began.
He explained that his responsibility as a former hiring manager was to post job listings on Indeed or other career board sites, and there were instances when Whaley was required to post fake job listings for the company that he worked for.
The hiring manager said companies post ghost jobs to trick current employees into working harder.
According to Whaley, the entire point of the ghost jobs was to encourage current employees to "work harder."
Job seekers outside the company would apply for these fake positions but then wouldn't get hired because the role actually didn't exist within the company. Meanwhile, current employees looking for promotions and opportunities to move up or those simply afraid their current positions were in jeopardy were equally duped — working harder in their roles in an attempt to impress higher-ups.
Whaley admitted that during his time as a hiring manager, he made over 300 fake job listings.
The issue started after Whaley was confronted by his boss, who questioned why he suddenly stopped posting fake job listings. Whaley explained to his boss that he just didn't feel good about doing it anymore. "I'm not going to continue posting ghost job listings so our employees can act like they're scared to lose their jobs. That ruins their mental health," he said.
"It's disgusting, it is," he continued. "It's not just my company. It is every company I'm seeing doing this. They're posting these fake job listings to trick you. It's a disgusting business practice."
Whaley was fired because of his moral dilemma, but his issue with companies doing this is no secret in recruiter circles.
More and more companies have posted fake job listings to the job market.
Legitimate companies are increasingly posting fake job listings, often referred to as ghost jobs. Four in 10 companies posted fake job listings in 2024, and three in 10 are currently advertising for a role that is not real, according to a survey from Resume Builder.
Ghost jobs do nothing but highlight the lack of transparency and uncertainty, which ultimately hurts job seekers in the long run.
While seven in 10 hiring managers say that they believe the practice is morally acceptable and beneficial for business, it complicates job seekers' searches for work and can also minimize their trust in companies, per Resume Builder.
Hiring managers told Resume Builder their companies' human resources departments, senior managers, and executives, and, in a few cases, investors or consultants, have created these fake job postings.
Of the companies that participated, 45% posted between one to five fake job listings, 19% posted 10, 11% posted 50, 10% posted 25, and 13% posted 75 or more. The roles ranged from entry-level openings to executive-tier jobs. This type of practice is incredibly misleading, especially for unemployed people who have been searching for a job for quite some time.
Unfortunately, the only way to work around this is to network and rely on people that you know who may have connections to companies that are actually hiring.
Instead of simply relying on job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed, where it seems that not everything is as it seems.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.