Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday that his office has opened an investigation into LinkedIn over so-called “ghost jobs”—job postings that appear to accept applications even though employers allegedly have little or no intention of filling them.
The attorney general’s office alleges LinkedIn may be advertising misleading job opportunities while encouraging users to purchase Premium subscriptions that promise greater visibility to recruiters and hiring managers.
“LinkedIn is a platform millions of Texans trust to grow their careers,” Paxton said in a statement. “If LinkedIn is deceiving users into paying for Premium services by promoting fake job opportunities, we will hold the company accountable.”
The phenomenon has become widespread enough to attract national attention. SFGATE recently described LinkedIn as a place for people to boast about professional achievements, a dating app, and less for applying for jobs “that may or may not be real.”
Ironically, LinkedIn itself published guidance warning users how to spot potential ghost jobs, encouraging applicants to watch for stale postings, vague job descriptions and positions that repeatedly appear without ever being filled.
“LinkedIn’s goal is to help jobseekers find their next role, and our policies require that jobs posted be authentic and accurately represented,” a LinkedIn spokesperson told Chron in an emailed statement. “For many jobs posted on LinkedIn, we also display the company’s response time and whether they’re currently reviewing candidates, which helps jobseekers know if it is a current, active job opportunity.
Texas’ investigation will examine whether LinkedIn violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by allegedly promoting misleading job postings while selling Premium subscriptions to users hoping to improve their chances of landing work.
“We actively enforce our policies and continually invest in new features like verifications for jobs, recruiters and company pages to help LinkedIn members identify more trusted opportunities,” the spokesperson added.