Ghost jobs flood the market

Signal Summary: One in three job postings lead absolutely nowhere, Gen Z candidates are having the worst recruiting experience of any generation, and 80% of workers are using unapproved AI tools their bosses don't know about. Plus, the candidate who wouldn’t take no for an answer in three offices.

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^{PS I draw all cartoons by hand on an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Procreate.}

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK ↓

SIGNAL 1
The phantom job economy is real (and massive)

The disconnect: Nearly 1 in 3 job postings never result in a hire. Welcome to the ghost job economy.

The damage:

• June 2025 data shows 30% of job openings (over 2.2 million roles) went nowhere

• This phantom gap has held steady at 28-38% every month since 2021

• Government jobs are the worst offenders at 60% ghost rate, followed by education & health at 50%

• Construction and hospitality buck the trend where hires actually match or exceed postings

Why this matters: Job seekers are drowning in fake opportunities while companies inflate their hiring data. The gap between postings and actual hires peaked in 2021 when openings spiked above 11 million, but hiring stayed flat at 6-7 million.

Signal → Strategy: Target construction and hospitality clients aggressively; they're actually hiring. Position your firm as the "real jobs only" partner that pre-qualifies openings before posting.

Go deeper: MyPerfectResume Ghost Job Economy Report

SIGNAL 2
Gen Z's recruitment experience is a disaster

Breaking: Gen Z reports the lowest satisfaction with recruiters of any generation across every single step of the hiring process.

What's broken:

• 58% of recent college grads still hunting for full-time work (double the rate of earlier graduates)

• Gen Z is least likely to consider recruiters a go-to resource for job hunting

• But when AI screening works well, 86% will work with that recruiter again vs. just 58% with bad AI experiences

The opportunity: Gen Z shows the highest increase in recruiter loyalty when their experience is positive. They're also the most responsive to AI-powered recruitment when it's done right and balanced with human touch.

Signal → Strategy: Audit your candidate experience for Gen Z friction points; clunky applications and robotic outreach kill engagement. Add career guidance and interview feedback to become their trusted mentor, not just another job pusher.

Go deeper: Bullhorn GRID 2025 Talent Trends Report

SIGNAL 3
Shadow AI: Your employees' secret weapon (and your security nightmare)

The twist: 80% of workers use unapproved AI tools at work. Plot twist? Security professionals are the worst offenders at 90%.

The breakdown:

• Half of workers use shadow AI regularly, with executives leading the pack

• 25% of workers trust AI tools more than their managers (ouch)

• 70% know colleagues are sharing sensitive data with AI tools

• Fewer than half understand their company's AI policies

Reality check: Employees aren't avoiding unapproved AI because they're reckless; they're using it because they think they're smart enough to manage the risks. Security awareness training isn't stopping them; it's actually making them more confident in breaking the rules.

Signal → Strategy: Position AI compliance consulting for staffing clients whose contract workers access sensitive systems. Package risk assessments with worker placement to differentiate from competitors ignoring this liability.

Go deeper: UpGuard Shadow AI Report

RECRUITING CONFESSIONAL
The Candidate Who Wouldn't Take No for Three Offices

Recruiting Confessional A weekly series featuring anonymous stories from recruiting and staffing professionals. Submit yours here.

The Setup: I worked for a consulting company with offices in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and New York City. I handled most technical interviews for a particular software platform.

The Persistence: I interviewed a guy for our Philly office, and he bombed spectacularly. A week later, his resume landed at our Jersey office and made its way back to me. I alerted our recruiter about what happened.

The following week, I got a call from our NYC recruiter asking me to interview the same guy. He'd now applied to all three offices.

You have to respect the hustle.

Have a story? Submit it here

WEEKLY POLL

SHARE THE SIGNALS
3 people you should share these signals with:

1. Your sales rep who keeps wondering why job orders never convert

2. Your recruiting manager struggling to engage Gen Z candidates

3. That compliance officer who's about to discover the shadow AI problem