evergreen job posting

Definition

A continuously open job requisition used to build a talent pipeline for frequently needed roles. It gives the illusion of always hiring while allowing the company to ghost 99% of applicants at their leisure.

Example Usage

That software engineer posting has been up for 18 months—it's an evergreen req they use to collect resumes for whenever they actually have budget.

Origin

Emerged in the 2000s with the rise of online job boards and applicant tracking systems

Fun Fact

Evergreen postings inflate job opening statistics and give desperate job seekers false hope, contributing to the perception that companies can't find qualified candidates when they're often not actually hiring.

Source: Recruiting and talent pipeline terminology

Related Terms

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workforce

The collective mass of humans employed by an organization or available in a region, viewed as a resource to be optimized like RAM or warehouse space. This term reduces individuals to a single economic unit in spreadsheets and strategic planning documents, because "people" sounds too personal for quarterly reports. It's humanity transformed into a productivity metric.

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ghost employee

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skills taxonomy

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equitable

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downsizing

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