Salary transparency is very important to job seekers because it offers reassurance that they are being offered the same pay as other candidates and employees who have a similar set of skills and experiences. Additionally, salary transparency helps to reduce bias in the workplace, and job seekers today care about businesses providing an even playing field for job seekers and employees and prioritizing equality.
According to Adzuna’s recent study, 28% of U.S. job seekers’ biggest frustration is seeing no salary or a lack of clarity about salary (including very large salary ranges) on job ads. Pay transparency also saves time for job seekers during the application process as they can narrow down their options. Adzuna’s analysis on job hunting activity over the last five years revealed U.S. workers have wasted over 480 million hours applying for jobs with the wrong salary. As much as employers want to attract the right candidates for their open roles, job seekers want to know a role is the right fit for them salary-wise, before they spend hours applying and interviewing.
Why Should Businesses Care About Salary Transparency?
Today’s job candidates care about DEI and equitable and transparent workplaces, and employers who are not sharing pay ranges during hiring are showing high quality candidates that they may have something to hide.
According to the survey, a lack of salary on a job ad makes potential employees skeptical of an employer. A third (32%) assume the company is hiding something, while 30% believe it shows the company would underpay them. Others think it makes the company look untrustworthy (28%), or that it shows them the company will be biased in how they pay their employees (31%).
A lack of salary transparency will also prolong the recruiting process, is more costly for employers and creates barriers to reaching more candidates. Adzuna’s data reveals that 54% of jobseekers straight-out declined a job offer after they found out the salary – after going through the interview process. Additionally, 33% would not attend a job interview before knowing the salary the employer is willing to offer.
Our data also shows that jobs with a salary receive 6x more applications, meaning salary transparency is a great tool to attract increasingly discerning talent.
What Are Steps Companies Can Take in Order to Become More Transparent with Pay?
Although there is far more work to be done, U.S. companies are starting to take steps towards becoming more transparent. This is critical to job seekers amid the cost-of-living crisis.
In 2020, an average of just 1% of companies were transparent about salary within job postings, but now 3% of postings include salary details. Organizations need to continue, or start, making pay transparency part of their future work plans as people talking openly about salaries will move from being taboo to being normal. Tips and best practices for companies include:
- Start using market data to set initial salary ranges
- Consider implementing payroll audits to identify discrepancies
- Always advertise an intended salary or salary range on job postings
- Share pay ranges for each role, insight into how salaries are calculated, and what employees need to do to reach the next step in the range
- Train team managers on how to handle salary conversations with employees in a fair and sensitive yet subjective manner.
How is Adzuna Helping the Job Market Become More Transparent?
In September, Adzuna launched the #MakeSalariesMandatory campaign. The company is on a mission to make the job market fairer and more transparent by calling on businesses to show salaries in their job ads. We are also campaigning for the U.S. government to make including salaries on job ads a federal requirement.
Paul Lewis is Chief Customer Officer at Adzuna.
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