The only logical conclusion I can come to is these are positions posted with an internal hire in mind but they have to go thru the motions to field other candidates. Or they are "ghost jobs" - jobs posted to give overwhelmed employees hope the cavalry is coming, when in fact they will never hire.

and this is not cynicism born of not getting interviews (I have) or jobs (I haven't) but rather that a position will be posted, up for 6 weeks. Taken down and then reposted with the exact same prompt 3-4 weeks later. One media outlet has done this for about a year now.