Phantom menace: India’s ghost job listing epidemic

A final-year student at BITS Pilani, one of the country’s most prestigious engineering colleges, Divya Sharma had always dreamed of working for a top tech company. So, when she found a posting on job portal Naukri.com for a role at a top Indian IT company, she jumped at the chance. After all, the job seemed tailor-made for her AI-focused skill set.

The interview process was rigorous and long, but each seemingly brought her closer to what felt like the “opportunity of a lifetime”. “There was a rumour in college that, a couple of years ago, this company offered someone from BITS an annual package of Rs 60 lakh. This was a dream job for most freshers.”

The hiring manager spoke of the role with urgency, emphasising the need for someone to start as soon as possible and talking about projects that Sharma would need to work on. “He even recommended additional training courses I should undergo to perform better in the role, so I felt like I was as good as hired.”