Should Employers Display Salaries on Job Adverts?
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As an Employer is it a Positive or a Negative to display a salary on a job post?  

We’ve all had this experience: you find a great job prospect online – one that perfectly fits your passion, skills, and expertise. You read through the job description with growing enthusiasm, until you see ‘Salary – DOE’…. I’ve often wondered, why?  

There must be a valid reason as to why you see this regularly on job sites? 

Whether a candidate takes a job offer is often reliant upon the salary. However, from the employer’s point of view, the politics of making a salary public can be problematic.  

‘Depending on experience’ or ‘competitive’ are some of the common phrases you come across when you’re on a job hunt… but why? 

In a traditional business environment, the salary is usually unknown as the employer wants to find out what remuneration the applicant is currently receiving and what their expectations are in regards to what the company is willing to pay. 

According to lorman.com, there are advantages and disadvantages to including salaries in job postings for the employer, do we need to consider: 

  • Should the salary be the deciding factor – When salaries are listed, applicants are more likely to focus on figure and either disregard other benefits or become blinded to the company’s culture not being a good fit for them. 
  • Does it make the employers’ negotiating position weaker and favour the candidate? 
  • Others seeing how much a new employee makes – This gives competitors an insight of your salary for certain position, in addition colleagues are able to also see the salary which can cause workplace friction. 

Data from a 2018 LinkedIn survey, in which the bulk of respondents (61%) said compensation was the most important part of the job description. A Glassdoor study showed similar results, with salary (67%) being the top factor jobseekers look for in adverts.  

The surveys highlight that companies who are open about the potential salary will attract more interest and diverse abilities to create a more equitable workplace. By simply stating a salary or a salary range, it shows honesty and transparency about themselves and their company. 

To Summarise:  

If the employer is clear about what they’re looking for and what they’re willing to pay, are they more likely to recruit the perfect candidate?  

Or  

Do they risk giving their competitors an advantage and potentially upset their current workforce? 

There are positives and negatives on both sides of this debate…  What do you think?  

 

Keep a look out for our upcoming blog following the Government Equalities Office’s recent news that they’re putting together a pilot scheme that will asking employers taking part to list salary details on job adverts and stop asking candidates about salary history, in a bid to tackle pay inequality.