New Yorkers are spending hours applying to jobs that aren’t real openings or are never updated when hiring stops. This wastes time, drains finances, and harms mental health through prolonged uncertainty. We demand truth in job advertising.

Every day, job seekers apply to postings that do not reflect a real, active vacancy, or remain online long after a role is filled or frozen. These “ghost jobs” distort the labor market and push job seekers into a cycle of repeated rejection, silence, and uncertainty. Research consistently links unemployment and job-search stressors to higher anxiety and depressive symptoms, and evidence also shows unemployment is associated with increased PTSD risk.

We call on New York State and New York City lawmakers to pass the Ghost Jobs Accountability Act, which will:

- Require clear vacancy-status disclosures and hiring timelines in job ads
- Require employers and job boards to remove inactive postings within 14 days
- Require basic applicant response timelines (receipt acknowledgements and status updates)
- Require AI/AEDT disclosure when automated tools are used to screen candidates
- Protect applicants and workers from retaliation for reporting violations
- Establish meaningful enforcement and graduated penalties for repeat violations

Sign to demand real job postings, fair communication, and accountable hiring in New York.