A recruiter has sparked reactions online after sharing a detailed account of how some companies allegedly post hundreds of job openings that are never intended to be filled, using them instead to gather valuable data from job seekers.
The story, shared by Peter Girnus, describes the experience of a Head of Talent Acquisition who claims that most of the job listings posted by the company were not genuine hiring opportunities.
Hundreds of Job Listings, Few Actual Hires
According to the account, the company posted 500 open positions in a year, yet only 34 people were actually hired.
The remaining 466 roles reportedly never existed, serving other internal purposes rather than recruitment.
The recruiter wrote: “Last year I posted 500 open positions for my company. We hired 34 people. The other 466 jobs were never real. I’m the Head of Talent Acquisition. That’s not what I acquire. What I acquire is data.”
Collecting Data from Job Applicants
The post claims that 160,000 applicants submitted resumes, salary expectations, and career histories.
Instead of using this information to hire, the company allegedly used the data to analyze market trends and compare salary benchmarks.
“160,000 applicants gave us their career history for free. We used it to benchmark compensation. Not to raise salaries. To confirm we were paying below market and get away with it,” he stated.
“Building a Talent Pipeline”
The recruiter described the practice as something commonly labeled in corporate language as “building a talent pipeline.”
However, they argued that the phrase often hides the reality that many positions may never be filled.
“I call it ‘building a talent pipeline.’ A pipeline is a thing you build and never turn on.”
Automated Systems Reject Most Applicants
The account also described the company’s applicant tracking system, which allegedly rejects 95% of applications automatically based on keywords.
The recruiter admitted that no one in the company even knows which keywords trigger the rejections.
“Some applicants spend hours customizing their resumes. The system reads them for six seconds. Then it sends a rejection email: ‘After careful consideration.’ There was no consideration.”
Job Listings Used to Impress Investors
The post further claimed that some job listings stayed online for months or even years despite the company having no intention of filling them.
One example mentioned was a “Director of Innovation” role that reportedly had been posted for two years, even though the company had no innovation department or budget for such a role.
According to the recruiter, posting large numbers of job openings also helped create the impression that the company was expanding.
“Our stock went up 8% after we posted 200 jobs in one week. We didn’t hire anyone that week. Or the week after.”
“We Value Data, Not Applications”
The recruiter concluded by reflecting on how the company viewed applicants primarily as data points rather than potential employees.
“We say we value every application. That’s not true. We value every data point.”