This isn’t a horror story. But it might just explain why you’re stuck refreshing your inbox, waiting for a callback that will never come.
Welcome to the phantom zone of job hunting—where ghost jobs haunt job boards and fool even the sharpest applicants. According to a recent report on MSN, LinkedIn’s Head of Career Products, Rohan Rajiv, confirmed what many job seekers have quietly suspected: a shocking number of job posts are never meant to be filled.
🎭 What Are Ghost Jobs, and Why Are They Haunting Your Time?
Ghost jobs are job listings that look real but aren’t actually hiring. Companies may keep them up to look like they’re growing, build a database of résumés, or simply forget to take them down. The scary part? Many of these listings just sit there, collecting hopes and applications from job seekers who deserve better.
As Rajiv puts it, these phantom listings waste time and erode trust. The longer you spend customizing résumés for roles that were never real to begin with, the less energy you have for applying to the ones that actually matter.
💡 Why This Hits Harder in the Philippines
Let’s be real: in the Philippines, every job application feels like a micro-battle in a career war. Competition is fierce, digital platforms are flooded, and workers are navigating AI-led transformations just to stay afloat.
As we discussed in How 40% of Employees Are Winning with AI, Filipino professionals are already stepping up—using tools like automation, AI-enhanced résumés, and data-driven career pivots to stay ahead. But ghost jobs? They’re the invisible obstacle we didn’t sign up for. They drain momentum, blur priorities, and lead applicants to question their worth… when the problem was never them to begin with.
Deepfake Job Applicants: When the Scam Applies to You
Before we talk about ghost employees, let’s talk about something even more unsettling: fake applicants who aren’t even human.
As explored in Deepfake Is at It Again, scammers are now using AI to create entire fake personas—complete with polished résumés, deepfake video interviews, and even synthetic voices. These AI-generated applicants can slip past automated screening tools and fool hiring managers into thinking they’re real people. It’s not just identity theft—it’s identity fabrication.
For Filipino job seekers, especially those applying for remote roles abroad, this raises the stakes. You’re not just competing with other qualified humans—you’re up against bots with perfect grammar, flawless credentials, and zero salary expectations. It’s a digital arms race, and the only way to stay ahead is to be unmistakably human: authentic, verifiable, and deeply aware of how AI is reshaping the hiring battlefield.
👥 Ghost Employees: The Payroll Version of a Haunting
This digital phenomenon even has a real-world cousin: ghost employees. In the Philippines, this refers to individuals who appear on a company’s payroll but don’t actually work there, sometimes existing only on paper, sometimes enabled by insider collusion.
In May 2024, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) found itself in the middle of a scandal when it exposed multiple ghost employees receiving salaries without clocking in. As Respicio & Co. Law explains, this practice isn’t just unethical—it’s legally punishable[3]. Whether digital or physical, ghosting in the workforce is a serious problem, and Filipinos have seen both ends of the spectrum.
🚨 So, What?
Whether you’re applying to a dream company or clocking in at a government office, one thing’s clear: illusions waste resources. Ghost jobs aren’t just frustrating—they erode trust, stall careers, and waste precious emotional fuel.
But here’s the flip: ghost jobs also remind us to sharpen our radar, upskill with intentionality, and apply AI tools wisely. Filipino workers don’t lack talent—we just need fewer distractions and more transparency.
So don’t let a fake listing haunt your job hunt. Use your AI tools for good, vet job posts like a pro, and remember: if it looks too vague, hasn’t been updated in weeks, and no one replies… it might just be a ghost.
And in this economy, you’ve got no time to chase the undead.
🧾 Sources:
[1]: MSN – How to Identify a Ghost Job, According to LinkedIn’s Head of Career Products
[2]: ABS-CBN – BSP Says 5 of 6 Staffers in ‘Ghost Employees’ Scandal Resigned
[3]: Respicio & Co. – Criminal Liability of Corporate Directors for Ghost Employee Scheme Philippines 🧠 Bonus Read: AIWhyLive – How 40% of Employees Are Winning with AI (Philippines Edition)
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