That's fair but still indicates shortage, no?

No, the exact opposite! A high percentage of ghost jobs indicates that there are very few actual jobs open in the field, which suggests an oversupply of workers.

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vanuatu 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

if the listings are open for the reasons OP stated, then yes it does indicate a shortage. if companies hired all the SWEs they wanted they wouldn't still have the listings

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pixl97 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

100% untrue.

Let's say I have 50 employees working for $100,000 each.

Why would I not want to replace 25 of them that are willing to work for $50,000 each if they are producing anywhere close to the same quality.

In a case like this always open job listings are a warning to others.

Also there is something called market sampling. Where you put up these job openings and look at the quality of applicants in relation to the employees you already have to ensure you're on the right track internally.

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jameshart 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> In a case like this always open job listings are a warning to others

‘Warning this company has management practices oriented around remaining solvent for the long term, rather than providing a sinecure for workers’?

	▲	pixl97 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Warning: This company will replace your ass so far without regard to your actual abilities or their current profitability. Companies do not have human rights. They are a pleasant fiction the population allows because it's more effective than not having said rules. We the people can revoke those rules the moment the meta-idea of corporations no longer serve the public good. In the US at least we seemingly have come to believe the corporation is the ultimate organism and all rights should be sacrificed for its eternal cancerous growth.
	▲	johnnyanmac 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Not every company is a hungry startup trying to hustle their way to a billion dollars. Businesses also value stability, and stable labor is a big factor in pretty much every other field. You don't get stability by laying off workers every 2 years .

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smcg 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

What if your $100,000 worker is actually more than twice as productive as your $50,000 worker?

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Bratmon 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> if companies hired all the SWEs they wanted they wouldn't still have the listings

I honestly can't tell if this a troll or not, but in case it isn't:

Because "number job openings" are used as a signal of company health, Ghost Jobs are far far more common than job listings which companies intend to hire from!

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rsynnott 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Big companies never hire all the SWEs they want, because there is always attrition. At a certain scale, there will always be people leaving and a constant need to backfill.

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johnnyanmac 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Or a lack of demand for workers in that particular region.

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flockonus 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Not necessarily indicates any 1 thing; it can be fake job posts to signal growth, could be an extra picky hiring manager, even a decrepit company that forgot to close it.

	▲	prerok 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I agree with that, just responding to the parent who wrote that their company keeps the hiring listed. So, in their case it's true but in other cases it is not. I agree, I should have written a bit more, apologies.

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firesteelrain 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It’s a pipeline requisition or feeder requisition. Sometimes companies will close and refresh it. Can’t rely on job listings alone