Almost a third of job openings reported over a one-month period this summer never materialized into actual employment, according to a new analysis by MyPerfectResume.com.
Highlights from the report:
In June 2025, employers posted 7.4 million openings but completed only 5.2 million hires.
30% of jobs posted over this period never materialized into actual employment.
According to the analysis, there is a persistent 28%-38% gap between openings and hires, in contrast to the pre-2021 period when openings and hires moved closely together.
Government positions show the highest ghost job rate at nearly 60%, followed by education and health services (50%), information sector (48%), and financial activities (44%), while construction and leisure/hospitality maintain relatively healthy alignment between postings and actual hiring.
The disconnect emerged in 2021–2022 when job openings spiked above 11 million while hires remained flat at 6–7 million, with as many as 38% of postings leading nowhere during that period.
Multiple factors contribute to phantom postings, including employers building candidate pipelines for future roles, budget freezes causing administrative delays, labor shortages in sectors like health care and education, and high-turnover industries maintaining continuous postings even when staffing needs are met.
Why does it matter? Job seekers are wasting time applying to roles that may not even exist and policymakers are looking at distorted labor market data. Trust in employers is also being eroded.
Read more via MyPerfectResume.com
Glassdoor's 2026 Worklife Trends report reveals growing tension between employees and leadership, driven by ongoing layoffs, return-to-office pressure, and a weakening job market that leaves workers with fewer options.
The six key trends shaping the 2026 workplace, according to Glassdoor:
The "great employee-leader disconnect": Trust in senior leadership has fallen well below pandemic peaks, with employee reviews showing a 24% increase in mentions of "disconnect," 25% rise in "miscommunication," 26% jump in "distrust," and a striking 149% surge in "misalignment" from 2024 to 2025.
Waves of layoffs are creating anxiety and resentment: Small layoffs affecting fewer than 50 workers now make up 51% of all job cuts (compared to 38% a decade ago). This is resulting in what Glassdoor calls ongoing waves that "create cultures of anxiety, insecurity and resentment" rather than discrete events that allow organizations to recover.
Return-to-office will continue, in "slow-mo": Rather than dramatic mandates making headlines, the gradual return-to-office stems from declining career opportunities for remote workers—with average career opportunity ratings falling from 4.1 in 2020 to 3.5 in 2025 as employers increasingly prioritize in-person employees for promotions.
AI has yet to have a broad impact on worker satisfaction: Despite widespread AI adoption, the technology hasn't significantly increased worker anxiety about job displacement or created major problems with implementation, suggesting employees are adapting more smoothly than anticipated to new tools.
Employers have retaken power: Power in the labor market has shifted decisively back to employers, with workers facing a flat job market that leaves them pressured to accept less favorable terms and feeling increased burnout alongside job insecurity.
Young workers who land a job are doing well: Early-career workers who manage to secure positions are on track to surpass pre-pandemic real wage levels in 2026 for the first time since 2020, particularly in emerging cities, after experiencing a 4.1% decline from 2020 to 2022.
Read more via Glassdoor.com
The number of Americans receiving unemployment is on the rise. Experts say the labor market is showing signs of weakness. Even so, some staffing shortages persist.
Air traffic controllers: While the federal government shutdown has ended, the shortage of air traffic controllers is still very much a problem. The shortage of air traffic controllers has been a problem for years, and the recent shutdown only made the problem worse, according to experts. During the shutdown, air traffic controllers were "required to work without receiving regular paychecks," which could make recruiting air traffic controllers "even more difficult" moving forward. According to a 2024 report, the "U.S. was short 3,903 fully certified air traffic controllers." An estimated "15 to 20" air traffic controllers were retiring every day during the shutdown, compared to the “usual rate” of 4 per day. (CNBC)
Medical group staffing: Physician practices and medical groups are continuing to face a staffing shortage, according to a new analysis by the American Medical Group Association (AMGA). Total clinic staffing at primary care and medical specialties have decreased 5-7% over the past three years. (Forbes, AMGA)
Dental workers: The state of Wisconsin recently received a "$20 million funding boost" from the state legislature. The funding is aimed at "allowing technical colleges to expand oral health training programs" to combat the state's shortage of dental workers. Dental workers are "poorly distributed across the state," with larger cities having an outsized share while rural areas don't have enough candidates to fill roles left open by retiring workers. The state hopes expanded training capacity will solve the problem. (PBS Wisconsin)
Restaurant workers: In Maine, restaurant owners say staffing challenges are the result of the state's housing shortage. Restaurant owners say they "can’t afford to pay workers the high wages necessary to keep up with rising housing prices, and even when they can, there’s nowhere for employees to live." Some restaurants that can find staff are now "cutting lunch hours or closing down on slower days of the week." Others say they "have no option but to close down for good." Portland, Maine has seen average monthly rent surge from $1,245 in 2019 to $1,711 per month in 2024. (Portland Press Herald)
Corrections officers: New York is closing a state prison located near the Canadian border and downsizing another facility as a result of persistent staffing shortages. Earlier this year, "thousands of corrections officers were fired … following a weeks-long strike over working conditions." (Times Union)
