I’ve spent five years in this executive role, dedicated and steady — yet recently, I stumbled upon a job ad that mirrored my own position, down to the title and duties. There’s absolutely no need for a second person in this role, so confusion quickly turned to dread. I went straight to HR and asked, “Why are we keeping a job ad open when we’re not actually hiring for it? Or am I being fired?!”

He smiled, clearly trying to mask his surprise that I had found out — then I froze when he suddenly stood up and sighed: “Oh well Christy, you were not supposed to see that job listing. Thing is, we keep certain positions advertised to stay prepared for natural employee turnover. Every year, we expect around 10–20% of staff to leave. It’s not a company issue, it’s just how the job market works right now. By keeping these ads open, we can build a pool of potential candidates and act quickly when someone resigns.”

Then he added something that made me even more uneasy: “If an exceptional candidate — a real ‘rock star’ — applies, we might bring them on board immediately, even if there isn’t an opening at that moment.”

I’m not sure if this is standard practice everywhere, but honestly, it feels unsettling. It’s as if the company is already preparing to replace me, even though I have no plans to leave. At the same time, I can’t help but see how unfair this seems from the perspective of jobseekers. They apply in good faith, not realizing that some of these “open” positions might not be real openings at all.

What do you think about this system? Have you ever encountered a similar situation at your workplace?