Tech Hiring Glossary

The percentage of a company's job postings that appear to be inactive, stale, or not genuinely open — commonly called "ghost jobs." Calculated over a 90-day rolling window.

A high ghost rate (>30%) suggests a company may be posting jobs for reasons other than active hiring — such as building resume databases, signaling growth to investors, or maintaining a hiring appearance. A low ghost rate (<10%) indicates genuine, active recruitment.

The percentage of a company's current job postings that are repeated from prior months without significant changes. Calculated over a 30-day window.

High repost rates can indicate hard-to-fill roles, unrealistic job requirements, or positions that have been filled but not delisted. It is one of the signals used to compute ghost rate.

The percentage of active job postings that have been open beyond the typical filling timeframe. Calculated over a 30-day window.

Stale postings may indicate positions that are difficult to fill, have been deprioritized internally, or are being kept open as "ghost jobs." Combined with repost rate, stale rate helps identify companies with genuine hiring urgency.

The percentage of a company's (or the market's) active job postings that are classified as remote-friendly. Includes fully remote positions and roles with significant remote flexibility.

Remote share peaked at approximately 87% of all tech postings in February 2022 during the post-COVID boom, then declined as return-to-office mandates took hold. Individual company remote shares vary widely.

The percentage of a company's job postings that include salary or compensation information (ranges, exact figures, or total compensation disclosures).

Market-wide, salary disclosure rose from 5.5% in 2020 to 29.4% in 2026, driven by state transparency laws. Individual companies vary significantly — some disclose compensation on 100% of postings, while others disclose on none.

The percentage of all job postings in a given period that include any salary information. Used to track the market-wide impact of pay transparency legislation.

This metric is computed monthly across all HN Who is Hiring thread postings. Key inflection points include Colorado's Equal Pay Act (Jan 2021), NYC's Local Law 32 (Nov 2022), and California's SB 1162 (Jan 2023).

The rate at which a company posts new job openings, measured over 7-day and 30-day periods. Higher velocity suggests active hiring; declining velocity may signal a hiring freeze.

Job velocity is a leading indicator of hiring health. A sudden drop in velocity often precedes layoff announcements, while sustained high velocity indicates growth.

The percentage of total job postings that target entry-level candidates, including junior roles, new grad positions, and internships.

The entry-level ratio peaked at 6.2% in 2022 and has since collapsed to below 3%. This decline is attributed to AI tools reducing demand for junior engineers, post-layoff experience inflation, and reduced risk appetite at companies.

The percentage of job postings that specify a hybrid work arrangement — typically requiring some in-office presence combined with remote work flexibility.

Hybrid postings have grown as a middle ground between fully remote and fully onsite. Many return-to-office mandates resulted in roles being reclassified from remote to hybrid rather than fully onsite.

The percentage of job postings that require full-time, in-person presence at a specific office location with no remote work option.

Onsite share dropped dramatically during the pandemic and has only partially recovered. Even companies with return-to-office policies often maintain some flexibility, keeping their onsite share below pre-pandemic levels.