Toto-Rex's story
Toto-Rex finds the perfect job ad.
'Posted 30+ days ago.' Toto-Rex applies anyway.
Two months later, the same ad is still online. Toto-Rex applies again.
Silence. Then the ad is reposted with a fresh date.
Toto-Rex wonders: is this job even real?
Toto-Rex's story is made up. The data and rules in this video are real.
The short answer
Not always. Some ads are for jobs that employers do not plan to fill soon.
The details
People call them 'ghost jobs'.
A US Congressional Research Service report defines them as online postings for jobs that do not exist, or that employers are not planning to fill immediately.
Some are not deliberate. Job boards can copy listings automatically from other websites.
Some postings collect applications for possible future roles.
There are no official US statistics on how many ghost jobs exist.
In its 2024 report, Greenhouse, a hiring platform, classified 18% to 22% of jobs posted on its platform each quarter as ghost jobs.
Silence after an interview is a different problem.
In Greenhouse's 2024 job-seeker survey across the US, UK, and Germany, 61% said they had been ghosted after a job interview.
Being ghosted does not, by itself, show that the job was fake.
Some places now set rules.
Since 1 January 2026, Ontario's job-posting rules have generally covered employers with 25 or more employees in Ontario, counted on the day of posting.
Covered public job ads must state whether there is an existing vacancy.
That rule does not itself ban postings for future roles.
If employers use AI to screen, assess, or select applicants, the posting must say so.
They must also tell interviewed applicants within 45 days whether a hiring decision has been made.
With more than one interview, the 45 days run from the last one. If interviews are more than 45 days apart, an update is due after each.
Useful to know: you can ask a recruiter directly whether a role is open now. In Ontario, check the posting for the vacancy statement.
Real-life examples
Real life: Ontario's job-ad rules in more detail.
The rules apply to publicly advertised job postings.
They do not cover general recruitment campaigns that advertise no specific position, general help-wanted signs, postings open only to existing employees, or certain jobs performed outside Ontario.
Covered postings must also include the expected pay or a pay range, unless the expected pay, or the top of the range, is above 200,000 Canadian dollars a year.
Where this disclosure is required, a posted pay range cannot span more than 50,000 Canadian dollars a year.
They must not require Canadian experience.
Real life: why ads may close or change.
ISE found that, to manage volume, some UK employers shorten application windows or close campaigns early.
Real life: why ghost jobs appear.
The US Congressional Research Service lists several possible reasons. In some cases, employers interview applicants with no intention of hiring anyone.
Staffing agencies may also invent and post openings to show employers they can recruit talented people.
The CRS notes that deceptive job ads may break US federal consumer protection law.
It also says official US job-openings figures are unlikely to include ghost jobs, if employers answer the government survey honestly.
In June 2026, US Senator Ruben Gallego asked the US Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission whether they had analysed how common ghost jobs are and how they affect job seekers.
Real life: new US bills.
In June 2026, New York lawmakers passed a bill, S8877, aimed at ghost jobs.
It would require employers with 100 or more employees to say whether an ad is for a current opening and when they expect to fill it.
Filled ads would have to come down within two weeks.
As checked on 17 October 2026, the official record showed that S8877 had passed both houses but had not become law.
Lawmakers in New Jersey, California, and Kentucky have proposed similar rules.
Back to Toto-Rex
So, back to Toto-Rex's ad.
A repost alone does not prove the job is fake.
Toto-Rex can ask the recruiter whether the role is open now.
If the job is in Ontario and the employer is covered, the ad must say whether there is an existing vacancy.
And if Toto-Rex interviews for a covered Ontario job, the employer must give the required update within the 45-day deadline.
If the job were in New York and the bill became law, large employers'
ads would have to say whether the job is current.
Summary
In short: some ads are ghost jobs, for roles employers do not plan to fill soon.
And no official statistics show how common they are.
Silence after an interview is a separate problem.
Ontario now requires covered ads to say whether a vacancy exists.
Three key terms
Ghost job
An online posting for a job that does not exist, or that the employer is not planning to fill immediately.
For example: an ad left online after the role was filled.
Ghosting
An employer stops replying without telling you the outcome.
For example: no news for weeks after a final interview.
Existing vacancy
A position that is imminently available for a qualified candidate to fill.
Imminently means very soon.
It differs from a posting that collects applications for possible future roles.
In Ontario, covered employers must say in publicly advertised job postings whether there is an existing vacancy.
Further reading
Start with the Congressional Research Service report on ghost job postings.
Then Greenhouse's 2024 report, which holds both the platform data and the survey.
For Ontario, see the government's guide to publicly advertised job postings and O. Reg. 476/24.
Sources
Congressional Research Service, '"Ghost" Job Postings', IF12977, 25 April 2025.
Greenhouse, 2024 State of Job Hunting report, 10 December 2024.
Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000, Part III.1, and O. Reg. 476/24. Ontario, 'Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: recent changes'.
Institute of Student Employers, Student Recruitment Report 2026, 14 October 2026.
Letters from US Senator Ruben Gallego to the US Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission, June 2026.
New York Senate Bill S8877 (2025-2026 session), official record at nysenate.gov, checked 17 October 2026. Ontario, 'Requirements related to publicly advertised job postings', updated 24 February 2026. Bloomberg Law, 'State Job Ad Bills Shift From Pay Ranges to "Ghost Jobs," AI Use', 1 May 2026.