New York lawmakers passed a bill aimed at curbing “ghost jobs”—listings employers post without intending to hire. If signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, companies with 100+ employees and third-party job platforms would have to disclose hiring timelines and remove
For job seekers, “no response” can feel like a door that never opens. Sometimes it starts with a listing that looks ordinary—clear requirements. a real company name. a deadline that seems worth the application time. Then weeks pass, inboxes stay quiet, and the job appears to vanish without explanation.
This month, New York state lawmakers passed a bill meant to tackle that frustration at the source: job postings that aren’t actually intended to lead to hiring. The proposal would apply if Governor Kathy Hochul signs it into law.
The bill would require companies to be explicit about whether they plan to fill a role when they post a job listing. It would also require postings to be taken down within two weeks of hiring someone for the job.
Rules would apply to companies with a hundred or more employees, as well as third-party platforms that post jobs. Under the bill. employers would have to disclose the date of when they intend to fill a position if that hiring window falls within 90 days. The law specifies the language of this disclosure and requires it be bolded and in all caps.
If there is no current opening—or if the job is unlikely to be filled in that 90-day timeframe—employers would still have to note that situation and provide a projected timeframe for hiring. And in situations where an employer does not actually intend to fill a job. the employer would have to clearly state that the purpose of the listing is to collect resumes for when a job opens up in the future.
The problem isn’t always deliberate. The bill’s backdrop includes job listings that stay up too long because of poor oversight—such as when a third-party platform continues advertising a role that is no longer open. or fails to remove it promptly. A recent analysis of over 175. 000 job listings found that about one in seven jobs was active for more than 30 days. at which point a company may no longer be reviewing applications.
There are also reasons employers might intentionally use listings that don’t lead to hiring. As reported by Fast Company, employers may want to build a pipeline of candidates for future openings. In other cases. employers may be legally obligated to post a job publicly even when they have already identified the person they intend to hire. Some may also use job listings to improve their image for investors or potential hires by projecting a company that appears to be growing.
For workers, the stakes are personal and immediate. Ghost jobs can waste time—sometimes weeks—when job markets are already strained by recurring layoffs. Even with warning signs, it can be hard to avoid. It’s not unusual. for example. to get little to no feedback after applying. which makes it difficult to distinguish a legitimate hiring process from a listing that was never meant to move forward.
New York already has experience with pay transparency laws. including a framework that forced many employers in the state to include salary information for job listings. Even so. compliance has been uneven. in part because of limited enforcement; some companies continued posting broad pay ranges that offer workers little practical guidance.
This bill takes a harder line. It would levy steeper fines on employers that fail to comply: $2,500 for each post that does not meet the requirements. That fine would double if the listing is not taken down within 30 days. and the amount would double every 30 days if the employer does not take action.
If Governor Kathy Hochul signs the bill with those penalties intact, employers across New York may face a simple choice: update hiring practices in line with the rules—or pay for leaving ghost listings online longer than intended.
ghost jobs New York Kathy Hochul job listings hiring timelines third-party platforms labor law fines job seekers pay transparency
Bold and all caps?? That seems kinda ridiculous but also maybe needed.
So they outlaw “ghost jobs” but what about fake companies that just harvest resumes for months? Feels like the same thing just with paperwork. Also 2 weeks to take it down sounds hard if hiring drags.
I’m sorry but I don’t trust employers to “disclose timelines” anyway. They’ll just say something vague like “within 90 days” and then ghost you. And all caps? that’s just gonna be annoying as hell to read while applying.
Not gonna lie, I saw “no response” jobs before and I swear it was cause they already hired someone internally, but they wanted the listing for HR stats or whatever. If they’re forced to remove it within two weeks after hiring, cool I guess, but I bet they’ll still repost under a different title or location. Also “third-party platforms” got involved now so I’ll wait and see how they even enforce it.