I pose an alternative hypothesis: They do not, in fact, have jobs to fill. They are seeking to add outstanding talent, but they're not hiring unless they see i

I pose an alternative hypothesis: They do not, in fact, have jobs to fill. They are seeking to add outstanding talent, but they're not hiring unless they see it. What has changed is that it has become advantageous to leave phantom job listings open as advertising for anyone of outstanding talent. (where 'outstanding talent' means 'someone who was already employed doing this precise same thing, but left because your competing firm is his only means of getting a raise') An employer with jobs to fill, at the end of the day, is going to want to fill them. He's going to have trouble if he doesn't fill them. It will be a problem for the company if the jobs go empty. Yes, they may technically be job listings, but the jobs are not, on average, designed to be filled. Any listing that stays open longer than a training program would need to bring an average applicant up to spec represents a job that for the purposes of the unemployed, the economy, and the company, statistically doesn't exist.