4 in 10 U.S. companies posted a fake job this year. Why?

The survey, conducted by career website Resume Builder in May, found about 40 per cent of companies had posted what was considered a 'fake' job this year.

With Canada’s labour market seeing a rise in the unemployment rate, Canadians are searching for jobs but a new survey may signal a warning for seekers: some postings by legitimate companies may not even be real.

The survey, commissioned by career website Resume Builder and conducted by Pollfish in May, found about 40 per cent of companies had posted what was considered a “fake” job this year and three in 10 companies had what it described as active fake listings.

According to the career site, unlike a scam job posting, a fake listing is when a legitimate company posts a listing for a position it “didn’t intend to fill,” meaning even if you got an interview there was no chance you’d get the job.

“It’s a concerning scenario, particularly when these misleading postings originate from HR departments — the very entities entrusted with shaping accurate perceptions of their organizations,” Stacie Haller, Resume Builder’s chief career advisor, said in a statement.

“Whether it’s to create an illusion of company expansion or to foster a sense of replaceability among employees, such practices are not acceptable.”

While the survey did not include Canadian hiring managers, Cal Jungwirth, Robert Half Canada’s director of placement services, said the numbers speak to a bigger issue of companies considering such a process on either side of the border.

“This is a great way to damage an organization’s brand,” he said. “The way the market will interpret that is turnover, that these organizations are actually going through a lot of people.”

Of those that posted fake jobs, about 26 per cent posted one to three listings in the past year, with 19 per cent posting five and another 19 posting 10.