I suspect the main reason it is hard to find a job is because interest rate induced layoffs, and remote work created too much competition. Five years ago I wasn’t competing with someone thousands of miles away with a phd who used to work at a faang.
As for Ghost Jobs, I think they are skipping how many are just scams collecting data. There are many fake recruiters just posting job listings on behalf of companies they are not affiliated with.
I would also be interested how many of ghost jobs listed by actual companies are on purpose vs just lazy. It would be nice to have a whistle blower
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