On disciplining the so called Surplus Army of Labor:

#ghostjobs #antiwork

https://www.socialistalternative.org/2023/07/13/ghost-jobs-the-new-trend-hurting-workers/

It's Saturday, I start a new job on Monday, and I need to rant about something that I became aware of yesterday (not related to my new job, but a good rant helps to calm the new job nerves).

So let's talk about #GhostJobs and why they suck!

Ghost Jobs are the latest tech industry trend that needs to be staked through the heart and buried. Simply put, they are jobs that a company advertises with no intention of filling the role.

But why? Mostly to con people into believing the company is growing. Investment is scarce in the current economy, and investors are looking for safe bets. Indicating sensible growth in the face of current economic headwinds makes a company look more attractive to whatever is left of the VC community.

This isn't the only reason of course, for some managers it is a way of holding on to budget they may otherwise lose, some roles are the leftovers of pipeline hiring with recruiters busy filling a pipeline with candidates that will never be hired so they have something to do, it can also be a way to pacify current overworked employees by telling them that relief is on the way if only they can find the right candidate.

For applicants however this is a nightmare. Applying for jobs is a full time job for those who are out of work, and there are a lot of tech workers right now who have been laid off by companies guilty of irresponsible growth. Ghost Jobs take precious time away from people who are already fighting the clock to be able to support their families. Applications take time to fill out, and following up on applications can be even more laborious. A friend of mine applied for a job and spent several hours over the course of weeks following up on the role only to be told off the record that they were never intending to fill the role and to go away.

What can we do about it? If you are in a leadership role at a company, just don't do it, it's super simple. DO NOT POST ROLES THAT YOU DO NOT INTEND TO FILL. For candidates, look to see just how long a role has been open. There are a lot of people out of work right now, far more than there are vacant seats, so if you are seeing any IC roles open for more than 8 weeks, you could be looking at a Ghost Job. Where possible, always try and find a recruiter at the company to talk to, most won't fess up to posting Ghost Jobs, but they might be able to tell you that you shouldn't bother following up again.

To everyone out there looking for work, best of luck, and share those Ghost Jobs if you find one!

#Jobs #JobAds #GhostJobs: "Mr. Kelly, who has decades of experience as a technical and marketing writer, estimates that when he was job hunting in late 2021, about 20% of listings that interested him were posted and reposted without anyone evidently being hired. Since his layoff from a startup in August, he says he has noticed that most jobs that catch his eye have been up for months.

“I first thought of it as an anomaly, and now I see it as a trend,” he says.
(...)
To avoid ghost ads, Scott Dobroski, vice president of communications at jobs site Indeed, recommends looking for detailed job descriptions. More specifics, such as schedules or a clear list of responsibilities, might indicate that an employer is serious, he says. He also advises checking the timestamp on ads to ensure they were posted recently.

Every month, Indeed removes millions of job postings that don’t meet its standards from the website, including inactive job postings, he says."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/that-plum-job-listing-may-just-be-a-ghost-3aafc794