The Push for Pay Transparency

A recent survey of about 2000 U.S. workers by job-search site Adzuna found that 54 percent of job applicants declined a position after learning its salary. The same study says that 33 percent of job applicants would not go to an interview before knowing how much the job would pay.

Given that, why do companies typically keep such vital information to themselves? And how can they be more open with applicants about their compensational intentions?

Those concerns are explored in a recent article by ZDNET. Paul Lewis, Adzuna’s chief customer officer, told ZDNET that companies often wait until the last minute to disclose a position’s salary because they think it will result in more applications.

But Lewis says that’s not necessarily the case. An influx of applicants who will eventually decline an offer translates into more work for recruiters and hiring managers. In addition, data suggests that job ads with a salary range receive six times more applications than ads without a salary range.

“Employers need to accept that jobseekers are ultimately going to find out about their salaries and delaying the news until the end is not going to make jobseekers — who usually have already made up their mind about their salary expectations — reverse their decision,” Lewis said.

Employers also may not always have a choice. In New York City, for instance, a new Salary Transparency Law went into effect this month. With the law, employers must “include a good faith pay range in all job advertisements.”