80% of IT Job Listings Are Fake, Tech Workers Claim

80% of IT Job Listings Are Fake, Tech Workers Claim

Spain's tech sector faces a paradox that confuses both insiders and outsiders. While consultancies publish hundreds of junior vacancies, experienced professionals report that most ads do not correspond to real roles. A technician with two years of systems experience describes how, after conducting weekly interviews for six months, 90% of processes end in ghosting once he signs a privacy policy adding him to a talent pool. The company never hires but reposts the same offer two weeks later.

The practice, executed brazenly by several consultancies, involves recruiting candidates to sell them to clients as if they were already part of their staff. The modus operandi includes sending a template for applicants to adapt their CVs with the consultancy's branding, even when no specific project exists. Recruiters themselves admit, when asked directly, that there is no real vacancy. They are just building a database. The phenomenon is not new but has intensified until it became the norm.

Why Do Consultancies Post Fake Job Listings?

The answer points to a combination of corporate image and commercial pressure. Consultancies need to appear constantly active to their clients and the market. Posting phantom offers allows them to maintain a showcase of dynamism at no cost. Additionally, they feed a database of profiles they can present to future clients as available candidates. The fruta cost is negligible because candidates rarely complain.

Some argue this practice borders on illegality, though proving it is extremely difficult. Signing the privacy policy turns the candidate into part of a pool, which legally may be interpreted as consent. Those affected speak of fraud but lack tools to prove it. Meanwhile, the same offers reappear every two weeks, like a set nobody removes.

Tech Bubble Deflates: Fewer Projects, More Available Profiles

The phenomenon of fake listings is not explained solely by consultancy chicanery. The tech sector has entered a cooling phase after years of accelerated growth. Funding has dried up, many startups have gone bankrupt, and large companies have frozen hiring. A professional with eleven years of experience notes he has never received so few offers. Another with twenty-four years in the field describes selection processes lasting months only to lead nowhere.

The oversupply of junior profiles worsens the situation. Hundreds of bootcamps and vocational training cycles have flooded the market with inexperienced candidates. Companies, which previously competed for talent, can now afford to select with a fine-toothed comb. One technician summarizes it bluntly: "AI is replacing all juniors. If university graduates can't find work, imagine someone from vocational training." The phrase, repeated in various tones, reflects a pessimism no longer limited to newcomers.

Remote Work Becomes Bargaining Chip

In this landscape, working conditions have become the main battleground. A technician earning €22,000 with four weeks of remote work rejects offers of €30,000 and €35,000 because they require commuting outside Madrid. His case is not isolated. Another professional reports that colleagues in his company threaten voluntary resignation if remote days are cut, even by one. On-site presence has become a decisive factor, sometimes more than salary.

Companies know this and have started paying more for roles previously filled with entry-level salaries. A user support role offered at €18,000 two years ago is now advertised at €24,000. The increase does not reflect general improvement but the difficulty in filling on-site vacancies. Remote work has solidified as an acquired right employees defend tooth and nail.

Comparison with Public Education: An Unexpected Refuge

The conversation shifts to other sectors. A preschool teacher with three years of service exceeds €32,000 annually, according to the exchange. The comparison with IT is not casual: both require specific training, but the stability and conditions of public education attract increasingly burned-out tech workers. Irony runs through the discussion: while some calculate the opportunity cost of leaving IT to take civil service exams, others recall that the teaching master's degree costs €1,500 and requires internships incompatible with full-time employment.

Not everyone shares the pessimism. A civil servant who left IT five years ago claims he still receives LinkedIn offers and that his friends in the sector, all over 40, change jobs without problems. The discrepancy generates accusations: some speak of parallel worlds, others of privileged profiles. The gap between seniors and juniors widens, and fake listings prey on those seeking their first opportunity.

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Spain's tech labor market shows deep cracks. Phantom listings, systematic ghosting, and the precariousness of juniors paint a scenario contradicting the official narrative of a booming sector. While consultancies continue posting vacancies that are never filled, experienced professionals navigate between the stability of current jobs and the uncertainty of a change that no longer seems promising. The question is no longer whether something is happening in IT, but how long it will take the market to acknowledge it.