They might even be scams or fishing expeditions to see who you're interviewing with, so they can send their clients (not you) to these employers. The bad ones can actually hurt your search. Only accept requests to connect from the quality search firms that you know and have already spoken with (the best firms will talk to you first before sending an invite to connect). You could get the wrong kind of attention: You may see a sharp increase in outreach and connection requests from less ethical recruiters or search firms, which you should ignore.

I’ve seen this bias in action when working with recruiters and employers, it's real. those who don't seem to be actively looking (it's like playing hard to get).

You could hurt your chances of being contacted: In fact, employers or recruiters may actually be turned off by the open-to-work designation because of the well known preference for 'passive candidates' i.e.You'll be contacted anyway: If an employer is using LinkedIn to source candidates and your profile shows up in their search, they know to contact you regardless of whether or not you show the open-to-work indicator (as long as you fit the bill).

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