A year ago, ghost job postings were being discussed as an emerging issue. At the time, they were largely treated as a temporary problem that disrupted the candidate experience. Today, the situation has moved beyond being an exception and has become chronic. Both candidates and companies are aware of this reality. The real question now is how ghost job postings have turned into a trust crisis in recruitment.
As we step into 2026, vague, open ended hiring processes without feedback, remain widespread. According to a 2025 study by LiveCareer, 45% of HR professionals say they regularly publish ghost job postings, while 69% admit to ending communication with candidates without providing any feedback. Moreover, many of these postings remain live for weeks or even months. For candidates, this represents not only a waste of time but also a deep sense of uncertainty.
This strategy is not new for companies. In our interview published a year ago in Headhunter magazine, we had already highlighted that ghost job postings harm not only candidates but also companies’ long term reputations. At this point, it is much clearer that ghost postings are no longer a temporary practice but a structural problem. From the candidate’s perspective, these postings do more than create uncertainty. They raise serious questions about a company’s hiring intent and the seriousness of its recruitment processes. In the candidate’s mind, a fundamental question surfaces more frequently: “Is this company genuinely running a hiring process, or is it posting jobs just for visibility and perception management?” This question creates a threshold that directly affects trust in the employer brand, well beyond the hiring process itself.
On the candidate side, this clearly results in loss of trust. Candidates who receive no response and have no visibility into where they stand in the process begin to disengage not only from the role but from the company altogether. On the company side, the risk is quieter but more severe. Non-transparent processes lead to a shrinking talent pool, push qualified candidates away from the brand, and decrease the credibility of the recruitment function.
Looking ahead, the key focus must be managing hiring through the lens of relationships and trust. Vague job postings, undefined processes, and the absence of feedback may seem harmless in the short term, but they cause lasting damage to employer brands over time. Today, ghost job postings clearly reveal how companies approach hiring, manage trust, define transparency, and build relationships with candidates. Every decision made in this test ultimately shapes the future of a company’s corporate reputation.
