Goblin Gazette

If you asked me in November what the end of the year would look like, I wouldn't have guessed it would involve a "Christmas Rejection" and a "New Year Revolution."

One month ago, TEDNE (This Engineer Does Not Exist) was an architectural vision on a whiteboard (more like in my brain). Today, we are officially part of the Google for Startups Cloud Program! Thank you, Google for Startups!

The journey was an emotional rollercoaster. First, "The Christmas Curveball." Just as the world was slowing down for the holidays, we got the email from Google. "Unable to approve... not enough public information." It was a gut punch. They didn't just want a landing page; they wanted proof of a digital-native business model, a deep team, and a working prototype.

Then, "The Relentless Week". While most were at holiday dinners, we went into "Technical Fortress" mode. Between December 24th and 31st, we:

• Built a full platform walkthrough, together with the founding team’s 55+ years of combined resilience.
• Mapped out our entire GCP architecture, including our physically isolated PII Vault for GDPR/EU AI Act compliance.
• Launched our YouTube and LinkedIn channels to show our JobGoblin engine already roasting real-world hiring bullshit.

The New Year Update: Today, the notification popped up: "Fantastic news! Your application has been approved."

The real work starts now. Our role, besides building the platform, is extending overnight. We are moving out of the "document factory" phase and into the v1 Build and Investor phase. We have the architecture, we have the backing, we have the resolve.

In 2026, hiring will finally meet transparency: no more ghost jobs, no more impossible requirements; just receipts. Follow our journey as we build the "Marketplace of Truth."

-- The TEDNE Team

In recruiting circles, you may have seen me throw around a "40%" number when talking about misleading, non-real, or zombie job listings. Some people rightly push back: "Where does that come from?", and that is a fair question.

So let’s ground this in real, recent industry data, especially relevant as labor markets and hiring platforms rapidly evolve in 2024–2025:

1. Fake Jobs are shockingly common

Recent surveys show that misleading or non-intended-to-fill job postings are far from rare:

• A 2024 ResumeBuilder survey of hiring managers found that about 40% of companies admitted to posting a fake job listing in the past year, including roles they never planned to fill.
• In that same report, approximately 3 in 10 companies currently have at least one fake or active ghost job listing online.

2. Employer motivations aren’t always straightforward

Ghost or phantom job postings don’t always come from malicious intent, but the impact on job seekers is real:

• 50% of hiring managers in a separate Clarify Capital study reported keeping jobs open because they’re “always open to new people.”
• 43% admitted to keeping postings as a kind of talent pipeline, not because they are actively hiring.

This suggests not just isolated bad actors, but structural incentives that keep lots of listings alive even when there’s no real hiring intent.

3. Job seekers feel it in their bones

Data from the same Clarify Capital research shows:

• 3 in 4 job seekers suspect that ghost jobs exist on job boards.
• Nearly all job seekers think companies should disclose hiring intent when posting a role.

That aligns with the experience many of us see: postings that stay online for months, interviews that go nowhere, or requirements that feel impossible before you even start.

So What Does “40%” Really Represent? It’s not just a catchy headline. It’s a data-backed anchor point that illustrates a systemic pattern in online hiring, not a precise measurement of “40 out of every 100 jobs are fake”. It reflects:

• The prevalence of ghost job strategy by employers.
• The structural incentives that propagate it.
• The real impact on candidate experience.

And it’s not pulled from thin air; it comes from reputable surveys that consistently show the practice is widespread and measurable. This matters for job-seekers and employers alike. When tens of millions of professionals are spending hours on applications only to:

• never hear back,
• be ghosted mid-process,
• or navigate listings with contradictory signals.

It erodes trust in the hiring ecosystem. By spotlighting this issue with data-driven insights, we aim to foster more transparency and accountability in job postings:

• Quantify job listing integrity,
• Expose systemic hiring issues with evidence,
• Help candidates make informed decisions,
• and help employers write meaningful, honest job descriptions.

Because transparency shouldn’t be optional, it should be the standard. If someone tells you "40% is just a buzzword", you can now point to credible, recent research that justifies, and contextualizes that figure.

And let’s be clear: this is not about finger-pointing. It’s about data, and trust in the labor market, and hiring practices.

Sources:

• The Truth About Ghost Jobs in 2025: A Hiring Mirage.
• Survey: Job Seekers Beware of Ghost Jobs.
• 3 in 10 Companies Currently Have Fake Job Postings Listed.
• The Ghost Job Economy: 1 in 3 U.S. Job Listings Lead Nowhere

-- The TEDNE Team

Recently, we got our first feedback, which was an interesting question: "It looks like we are against AI, but all of the pictures that can be found on our homepage seem to be AI-generated images. It’s a bit weird to protest against something while you are also using it."

So let’s clarify: We are pro-AI. We use AI to generate images, to help with content creation, and to analyze job ads. We believe AI can be a powerful tool to augment human creativity and efficiency. It helps us to progress, but not to replace human judgment and empathy.

What we oppose is using AI to replace the human core of hiring: black-box ATS scoring, automated rejections with no recourse, and “AI interviews” that treat people like inputs. Candidates deserve clarity, respect, and real human conversation. The hiring shouldn't be dehumanized, because based on just scores, we are losing the chance for genuine connection and understanding.

JobGoblin exists to roast the nonsense and to help the industry move toward realistic job ads and human-first hiring, not to ban AI altogether. Believe it or not, we want to be a data company that provides transparency and insights to improve hiring practices. But we want to do so responsibly and ethically. TEDNE is never going to be a place where bullying, harrasment or discrimination is tolerated.

We believe in using AI responsibly to enhance, not replace, the human element in hiring.

-- The TEDNE Team