LinkedIn is being investigated in Texas over alleged “ghost job” postings.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a Civil Investigative Demand to the Microsoft-owned company, which has more than 1 billion users, Fox 7 Austin reported. The investigation centers on allegations that some job postings shared on the platform were fake or not valid hiring opportunities. It is also investigating whether LinkedIn is violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, according to Chron.
A “ghost job” is a job posting for a position that is no longer available or that an employer does not intend to fill, the outlet reports. Fox 7 Austin reported that between one-fifth and one-third of LinkedIn job postings are estimated to be ghost jobs.
Additional claims against LinkedIn are that it does not vet job listings and is not being fully transparent with members who subscribe to Premium, which costs between $39.99 and $69.99 per month for perks that include access to recruiters and hiring managers, Chron reports.
The investigation alleges that Premium subscription tiers have many job listings that are likely inactive, unfilled, and do not mirror a real employment opportunity.
“I will use every resource available to my office to help job-seeking Texans find and secure real employment opportunities,” Paxton said in a statement, according to Fox 7 Austin. “LinkedIn has a duty to provide the services it advertises and ensure that consumers paying for Premium subscriptions are receiving access to legitimate job postings.”
Texas officials are requesting that LinkedIn send documents, data, and internal communications for transparency on its practices in advertising, marketing, job listing verification, and its Premium subscriptions, per Fox 7 Austin.
The outlet also notes that there have been no formal allegations of wrongdoing, and Texas has not filed a lawsuit.
AFROTECH™ reached out to a LinkedIn spokesperson for a comment.
“LinkedIn’s goal is to help jobseekers find their next role, and our policies require that jobs posted be authentic and accurately represented. For many jobs posted on LinkedIn, we also display the company’s response time and whether they’re currently reviewing candidates, which helps jobseekers know if it is a current, active job opportunity,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson continued, “We actively enforce our policies and continually invest in new features like verifications for jobs, recruiters and company pages to help LinkedIn members identify more trusted opportunities.”
