It should be illegal.<p>Fake job postings are used to harvest data, to give fake signals like the company is growing.<p>One is a privacy problem, the other one is fraud.<p>If you get a response saying the position was filled, you should be able to request for the job posting to be removed, or they should do it within a reasonable period of time.<p>If the position remains open after they tell you it is closed just apply again.
Nothing new, just amplified by AI.<p>Companies inflate open roles to make themselves look more legit. A bonus is they can trawl for candidates and keep resumes in the back pocket. AI makes this easier so it can be done for less effort so more companies can do it.<p>If you want a real job that really exists, aim for intros to hiring managers.
Fake jobs, fake candidates, fake/useless work, and fake/inflationary money! All for what? It'll all go to zero. Meanwhile, if you want to get a job, a good recruiter still works, although there are many fake recruiters too.
it's been happening for decades, data aggregation, understanding the market, stealing personal data, stealing applicant ideas, you name it, the job application is a great rip off tool