Salary transparency, is clarity the best policy?

I recently put a question to my LinkedIn community to get their take on one of the recruitment world’s burning issues…

In July of this year, I posted a poll on my LinkedIn page to discover how my community feel about salary transparency and the inclusion of compensation details within job adverts. This topic has been widely discussed across the sectors, and the feedback I received was decisive.

The question I posed was, ‘Should all job adverts include salary details,’ and the three response options were; ‘Yes, exact salary’, ‘Salary range is acceptable’ and ‘No, candidate should request’. The LinkedIn poll received 116 responses, with 21% opting for ‘exact salary’, 79% selecting ‘salary range’ and zero respondents selecting that the candidate should have to request the information themselves.

This clear preference for the salary information to be included within the job advertisement seems to align with larger studies on pay transparency. For example, a 2018 glassdoor study found that 67% of respondents considered salary the top factor they looked for when browsing job adverts.

This desire for clarity around compensation appears to be driving a change in how vacancies are posted. LinkedIn Group Product Manager Rohan Rajiv, recently revealed that LinkedIn job postings that include salary information increased by 50% from January 2021 to January 2022. In addition, some areas are even imposing laws around the inclusion of financial compensation. In May 2022, it became law that New York City employers with four or more staff must include the minimum and maximum salary within their job listings. Similar legislation is also being considered in other areas of the USA.

There is a range of reasons that potential candidates may prefer to have visibility of the compensation associated with a role. As well as potentially supporting the creation of a more equitable workplace, salary transparency could help candidates streamline the application process by allowing them to focus on roles within their salary bracket.

“Several years ago, I went through a lengthy application process for a job,” says Jen Gillan, Marketing Insight Manager, “I put a lot of time and effort into creating presentations and preparing for the interviews. The salary range wasn’t discussed until later in the process and I realised that it was significantly lower than I was aiming for. It was frustrating, and I couldn’t help but feel I had wasted my time.”

While there may be benefits to sharing salary information, financial compensation is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to attracting talent. Culture, flexible working hours, progression prospects and ESG are also crucial considerations for job hunters. This is where the MM Search ethos of culture and chemistry becomes invaluable, and we pride ourselves on supporting businesses to build job adverts that stand out in this highly competitive climate. Our goal is to help companies find candidates who are not only qualified for the role but are well suited to the company as a whole to ensure long-lasting, fulfilling working relationships.

Over the coming months, we’ll conduct more polls on our LinkedIn channel to bring you more industry insights and trends. Contact the team today if you have a question you would like to put to our audience.

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