need to start talking about this: Are companies really hiring, or are they turning people’s hopes into part of a data strategy? What is this showcase economy? There was a time when companies were known for what they produced, who they employed, and what value they created. Today, more and more companies behave a bit like influencers. They have to be constantly visible They have to constantly show they’re growing They have to look like they’re constantly in motion, having raised investment, building teams, opening into new markets, and chasing talent. Because in the digital age, it’s no longer only performance that creates value, but the performance of performance. The phrase “We are hiring” has become one of the most powerful accessories of this show. Sometimes it’s used because hiring is genuinely happening. But sometimes it’s so that the company looks like a living, growing, sought-after, investment- attracting, promising organisation. And this is exactly where the problem begins. The company’s showcase may be shining. But behind the listings in the window, is there really a
product or service as good as it’s been polished to look? Building a candidate pool is normal. Understanding the market is normal, too. But keeping people waiting, hopefully for months without a real hiring plan, turning their effort into a free data source, is not ethical. Because people aren’t just looking for a job; they’re trying to build a life. In Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, two men wait by a roadside for someone who has sent word he is coming. They wait through one day, then another. Each evening, a boy arrives with the same message: not today, but surely tomorrow. Godot never comes. An entire generation of job seekers has been cast in the same play, waiting faithfully by the inbox for an arrival that was never going to happen, kept in place by a message that is always “soon.” Maybe that is why these are now called “ghost job listings.” Because there is a listing, but there is no real position. There is a process, but in the end, no one is hired. And people chase after something that does not actually exist, for weeks, for months. A kind of ghost-hunting of the modern business world.
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ISSUE 25 GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE
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