Man tries to decode why companies are conducting interviews but not hiring

The Job Opening and Labor Market Turnover Survey (JOLTS) conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 9.6 million available jobs in September 2023. The number led many people to question why the hiring statistics were so poor despite every company posting so many jobs regularly. This TikTok creator Josh Hublitz (@joshhublitz) took to the popular video-sharing platform and talked about why people are not landing jobs. "Here's a theory as to why companies are running interviews, not hiring anybody, and then reporting the jobs on LinkedIn," he says at the beginning of the video.

"A good friend of mine brought this to my attention and I think it was spot on, I think a lot of you have seen this, that companies run an entire process, maybe you were a part of it, and then they just repost the job on LinkedIn and it just sits there for months," he says.

"And we all know companies especially tech are laying off like crazy. I think Nike laid off last week. Tesla laid off like 10% of their workforce, so layoffs are real, yet, all these phony hiring processes are also real," he continues. He then talks about how it feels like "companies are trying to give off the illusion that they're hiring like they are running interview process and posting jobs while what they are doing getting accomplished is laying off people. He says that the companies are doing this to "check the market" and keep the pulse on candidates and where their salaries should be.

"But I don't think there's any real intention of hiring people, um when you see these postings, they live on LinkedIn like forever", he added. He then talks about how he thinks now is not the right time to accept a job. "The salary-to-experience ratio is totally out of proportion," he says. "I have seen it with friends who have accepted jobs recently," he adds.

"And for what they received in compensation, relative to what they're qualified for, is almost embarrassing," he says. "I honestly think if you're in limbo, you are laid off, or in between jobs or whatever, now is probably a good time to wait," he adds.

"Because you're gonna get a better salary probably after the elections as compared to what's out there right now," he says. "Either way, it's becoming really obvious that companies are playing games and I think more people are catching on." Many took to the comment section to talk about their current situation. "They are selling everyone's information to data collection companies," writes a user.

"I’m exhausted. Over 900 jobs applied for all custom AI exec summaries and cover letters. Only a handful of interviews, then ghosted," writes another.

Many users also came from the same school of thought as the creator's friend. "Thank you for reaffirming my beliefs. I thought I was going crazy. Companies are gaslighting people right now," wrote a user BrainPeach.

"Companies are resetting the Employer/Employee dynamics. They are trying, and effectively, going back to the 'be grateful for having a job' era. Employees will not have the upper hand going into 2025," writes daggerhart4.

For more such content follow (@joshhublitz) on TikTok.