I have also seen HR departments so slow, hiring procedures so onerous, that it is obvious the company doesnt want to actually hire anyone. "Jobs" sit unfilled for months/years until someone wonders why the position was ever created.

I'm an attorney specializing in compliance and privacy, so most all of my work is 'consulting'. But I run into companies every day who enjoy being constantly understaffed. It's the fashion in IT atm. A company without dozens of open positions isnt considered 'lean' and so they keep many open just so they can say they are there. (Some hr depts probably also think open positions are a headge against downsizing. They arent.)