Guidelines for Employers to Reduce "Ghost Job" Postings
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the Ministry of Manpower’s approach to "ghost job" postings and their impact on labour market statistics. Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked if such listings are excluded from data reports and requested guidelines to promote responsible hiring practices. Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng replied that the Ministry ensures data robustness through stringent validation and cross-checks against sources like MyCareersFuture to confirm vacancies reflect actual demand. He noted that the Ministry investigates anomalies and is enhancing job portal features, such as responsiveness filters, to support jobseekers. The Minister concluded that while multiple postings can be legitimate recruitment efforts, the Ministry will continue engaging employers to encourage responsible job posting practices.
Transcript
24 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry accounts for ghost jobs, referring to job postings that do not exist or that companies do not intend to fill immediately, in its labour data reports; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider releasing guidelines to encourage employers to reduce ghost jobs to build trust and support with jobseekers during the hiring process.
Dr Tan See Leng: The Ministry of Manpower takes care to ensure that our labour market statistics obtained from employer surveys are robust. All reported vacancies undergo stringent validation, including cross-checks against other data sources, such as MyCareersFuture postings, to confirm that the vacancies are genuine and tied to actual hiring activity. We follow up directly with employers if, for example, vacancies in their companies rise sharply without corresponding hires, or if the same positions are repeatedly reported every quarter without being filled.
These measures improve our data quality and ensure that the statistics we publish reliably reflect actual labour demand. This is reflected in broader hiring trends, where sectors with higher professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) vacancies have also seen strong growth in resident PMET employment.
We recognise that employers may publish multiple postings across different job portals to maximise chances of securing a suitable candidate. Such practices are part of normal recruitment efforts and do not necessarily indicate fictitious openings. We are continually enhancing job search features on the MyCareersFuture portal such as introducing filters to help jobseekers identify more responsive employers and will continue to engage with employers to encourage responsible posting practices.