Job Vacancy Meaning & How to Use It

What “job vacancy” means

A job vacancy is a position at an organization that is unfilled and available to be filled by a worker. It may be newly created, or it may have become open because someone left, changed roles, or the employer needs another person. The phrase names the position, not the person looking for work and not necessarily a job that has already been offered to anyone.

For example: “The hospital has a vacancy for a night-shift receptionist.” Here, vacancy means there is an available receptionist position. A notice that says “We have several job vacancies” means the employer is recruiting for multiple roles.

The word can also mean an empty space or an unoccupied place, as in a hotel vacancy. In employment contexts, the surrounding words make the meaning clear: a vacancy “for a technician” or “in the sales department” is an unfilled job.

Is it standard English?

Yes. Job vacancy is a standard, formal-to-neutral English phrase, not slang or a nonstandard expression. It is suitable in job advertisements, business writing, news reports, and ordinary conversation. In some contexts, simply saying vacancy is enough: “There’s a vacancy in the accounting team.”

The phrase is a compound of job and vacancy. Job has a complicated history and is recorded in English from the late Middle Ages, with early senses including a piece of work or task; its familiar sense of paid employment developed later. Vacancy came through French from Latin vacantia, related to Latin vacare, “to be empty” or “to be unoccupied.” That history explains why the word can refer to both an empty space and an unfilled position.

Use the phrase as a noun: “The company advertised a job vacancy.” The plural is job vacancies, not “job vacancys.” A related adjective is vacant, as in “The position is vacant,” while vacate means to leave or give up a place or position. Those words are related in origin but do not work interchangeably in a sentence.

How employers and applicants use the term

Employers use job vacancy to identify a role they are seeking to fill. A vacancy announcement usually provides more information than the phrase alone: the job title, duties, qualifications, work arrangement, application instructions, and sometimes the expected hiring timeline. The phrase does not by itself promise that every applicant will be interviewed or hired.

Applicants may use it when asking about openings or describing a listing they found. Natural examples include:

“Are there any job vacancies in customer support?”
“I applied for the job vacancy posted on the careers page.”
“The library is advertising a part-time vacancy.”
“Please contact the hiring team about this vacancy.”

In a sentence, vacancy is usually countable when it means a particular open role: “There are two vacancies.” It can also appear in the phrase vacancy rate, which describes the share of positions or spaces that are unoccupied in a defined group. That is a specialized measure, so a job seeker generally does not need it to understand an individual job posting.

Job vacancy, job opening, and job position

Job vacancy and job opening usually mean much the same thing: a role available to be filled. Job opening is especially common in everyday US English and can sound a little more conversational. Job vacancy is also widely understood in the United States, and may sound more formal or administrative depending on the context.

Job position refers to a role or post, whether or not it is currently open. In “She holds a job position in logistics,” the phrase identifies someone’s role. In “There is a vacancy for a logistics coordinator,” it says the employer has an unfilled role. The distinction matters: a position can be occupied, while a vacancy is, by definition, open.

A vacancy is not the same as a job seeker’s “availability.” A person may be available to work without there being an employer’s vacancy for them; conversely, a vacancy can exist when no suitable applicant has yet been found.

What a vacancy notice does—and does not—tell you

A vacancy notice indicates that an employer is inviting applications or otherwise trying to fill a role. It does not always reveal why the position is open, how long it has been unfilled, or whether the employer is considering internal candidates as well as external ones. Those details depend on the organization and the specific notice.

Read the full posting rather than relying on the word vacancy. Check whether the role is permanent, temporary, part-time, seasonal, or a fixed-term position; whether it is on-site, remote, or hybrid; and what application steps are requested. “Vacancy” only describes the opening, not the job’s conditions.

Another point of confusion is the phrase “vacancy filled.” It means the open position has been filled, so the employer may no longer be accepting applications. A posting can remain visible after hiring has started or finished; the text of the listing or the employer’s careers page is more informative than the word alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does job vacancy mean?

It means an unfilled position that an employer may be seeking to fill. A vacancy may be advertised publicly or handled through internal recruitment.

Is a job vacancy the same as a job opening?

Usually, yes. Both refer to a role available to be filled, though job opening may sound more conversational in US English.

Is “job vacancy” formal or slang?

It is standard English, not slang. It is appropriate in professional notices and is also clear in everyday conversation.

How do you use “job vacancy” in a sentence?

You could write, “The company has a job vacancy for an office assistant.” The phrase works as a noun, and its plural form is job vacancies.

Does a vacancy mean the employer has hired someone?

No. A vacancy is an open position. If the employer has selected someone and filled it, it is no longer a vacancy, although an old listing may still be visible.

Further reading: Merriam-Webster. Details can change, so check the official page for anything that matters to you. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. How we write an answer.