Many candidates who have submitted technical jobs complain that they sometimes do not receive a response at all. Some jobs are still announced, but they are not filed for a long time, and sometimes for a year or more. According to the Ethosia Employment Agency, the percentage of “ghosts” – the vacancies that have been announced but have not been filled and continue to appear on the company's website – have jumped greatly in recent years. For comparison, if the rate in January 2022 is 3 %, over the past two years, 9 % to 11 %. Data indicates a variety of jobs, including software development, development, product, human resources, processes, purchase, sales and more.
“The ghost function is a familiar phenomenon,” explains the CEO of Ethosia Eyal Solomon. “It is expressed when the LinkedIn job company has published and freezing it, but it did not remove it for one reason or another.” In most cases, he says, this is not an attempt to mislead job seekers, but rather as a result of organizational efficiency or lack of clarity regarding future employment needs. “For example, when there is enough candidates who applied for this position, the advanced recruitment process with specific candidates, problems with the approval of the standards, or simply because the organization has difficulty making decisions.” The current rate of ghost function, according to Suleiman, is exceptional given by the war, which affected the commercial activities of many companies: “There is nothing from 9 % to 11 % in normal times.”
Human resources lack and a reference to talent
Telv Partners, the head of talent and people, Toby Stein, explains that one of the main reasons for this phenomenon is the lack of human resources. “Human resources teams receive hundreds of CVs and the recruitment process begins, but because of limited resources, by the time when the candidate is finally accepted in this position, dozens or hundreds of other candidates have installed those who simply got a response,” he says.
However, he says, in some cases, ghost positions also act as a tool for employees. “Many companies do experiences in advertising functions to test the job response in different locations, such as abroad. For example, to fill a position in the United States.”
In other cases, Stein says, there are positions that always remain open: “companies that have difficulty employing desired positions, such as adult algorithms, leave the positions permanently open. These signs are to quality talent Stein, the market has also changed since the outbreak of the war. There is a more resumption of vacancies and less than recruits who can handle all applications. “
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Israel is not the only place
A look abroad shows that this phenomenon is not unique to Israel. In the United States, for example, in recent years, technology giants such as Google and Amazon have announced the freezing of employment, but at the same time they continue to announce many jobs on their web sites. This is a phenomenon called “backfilling” – and it is a process in which companies continue to employ specific jobs despite the freezing of general employment.
Amazon VP People explained the experience and technology of Beth Galetti this gap: “In general, depending on the work or the region in which the company is located, we will employ alternatives to employees who apply for new opportunities and there are targeted places where we will continue to gradually recruit people.” In other words, according to it, Although employment freezing ads, companies still need Maintaining the minimum workforce in order to continue the employees on their own.
In December, Clarna, the Swedish payment giant, said it “stopped employment about a year ago” and was cutting her working power due to the use of artificial intelligence. However, the company's website's website still lists more than 50 open jobs, and executive officials have published LinkedIn's employment updates throughout 2024. When facing the gap, a company spokesman admitted: “We are not actively recruited to expand our general strength of basic roles.”
It was published by Globes, Israel Business News – En.globles.co.il – on February 26, 2025.
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