The New York state Senate this week passed a bill that aims to crack down on postings of so-called “ghost jobs.”
The legislation, which passed 39-19 in the upper chamber, would amend the state’s labor law to require job advertisements to disclose if and when an employer intends to hire someone for a position.
Pushed by Democratic state Sen. Mike Gianaris, the bill is in response to “ghost jobs,” which is often a position that looks open but is not. A ghost job might be a position that a company posts but has no actual intention of filling. Companies that post ghost jobs may do so to make them appear bigger than they actually are or make it appear that they are continuing to grow. They may also post the position but intend to actually hire for it months later.
A study by Clarify Capital, a team of small business veterans who help others make financial decisions, found that one in seven job postings were ghost jobs out of 175,000 live job listings on the third-party job website Indeed.
“Ghost jobs aren’t just frustrating, they’re dishonest and exploitative,” Gianaris wrote in a post on X. “Yesterday the State Senate passed my bill to require employers to disclose if and when they actually intend to hire someone as part of a job description. No more applying to jobs that don’t actually exist.”
Gianaris’ bill would impose a $2,500 fee for violators.