Why You Should Include Salary In Your Job Postings

Salary transparency is becoming more prominent in job postings. Colorado’s “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act” requires employers to include pay range and benefits in every job listing. Additionally, in states like Maryland and Nevada, employers must provide a salary range if asked, while California became the first state to ban employers from asking applicants about their salary history. You can find a complete list of states and cities that legally require employers to share salary ranges at cnbc.com.

The Case for Including Salary Ranges in Your Job Postings

While 14 states and cities have made it a legal requirement to share salary ranges, it’s still not the norm. According to Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, only about 12% of postings on US job boards include salary ranges, although that is an increase from 8% in 2019. Pollak shared that our current labor market may have something to do with this slight increase. "A tightening labor market does appear to have caused more companies to disclose pay rates," she said.

While it may not be the norm, including a salary range in job postings is a savvy business move. Forward-thinking employers would be wise to incorporate salary ranges into their recruiting strategies. 

This post will outline the top reasons for including salary ranges in your job descriptions. 

• Job Seekers Want to See Salary Ranges
• Sharing Salary Ranges Can Increase Applicant Traffic
• Salary Transparency Ensures Equitable HIring
• Candidates Will Find Out Salaries
• Including Salary Ranges Helps You Stand Out
• Not Sharing Salary Ranges is Exclusionary 
• Sharing Salary Ranges Strengthens Your Interview Process
  

Job Seekers Want to See Salary Ranges

Glassdoor has 67 million unique visitors each month and has found that money is the top motivator for 67% of their job seekers. 

Similarly, LinkedIn suggests that putting salary ranges in job descriptions may give employers a competitive advantage since it’s what most job seekers want to know. "In our recent study on what candidates want during the job hunt,” LinkedIn writes, “we found that over 70 percent of professionals want to hear about salary in the first message from a recruiter. With 59 percent of candidates stating that salary was the leading factor that contributed to feeling fulfilled in their career, understanding pay and benefits is clearly top of mind during the job search."

Millennials are Very Open About Money

For years, the accepted etiquette prevented job seekers from asking about salary until they got an offer—discussing finances was long considered gauche, but millennials, now the largest generation in the workforce, have turned those sentiments on their heads. The book “What Millennials Want From Work” found that 71% of millennials will discuss salary with their parents or guardians, and 47% will do so with their friends, versus 31% and 24% of older workers. 

Millennials will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025, so it behooves employers to appeal to their sensibilities. 

It's a Candidate's Market

It’s a job candidate’s market right now. The best candidates have the luxury of being very selective in the jobs they apply for. Including salary clarifies what the offer is and shows them that your organization values transparency, which today’s job candidates value.

Don't Waste Candidates' Time

Today’s job seekers value their time, and job candidate experiences they feel don’t waste it. Going through an interview process only to find that the salary range doesn’t match what they were looking for wastes everyone’s time. In the job market of yesteryear, candidates might compromise on salary for a strong mission or company culture, but not today.

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Sharing Salary Ranges Can Increase Applicant Traffic

It only serves to expect that if your job ads appeal to what today’s job seekers want, you’ll increase your applicant traffic, which is always beneficial for employers. A study by SMART Recruit Online found job descriptions that included salary ranges got over 30% more applicants than those that didn’t. Similarly, UK job board Jobsite saw dropoff rates for job advertisements without salary ranges are between 25% and 35%.

The HiringThing Guide to Increasing Your Applicant Traffic can help provide additional tips for getting more applicants to apply for your open positions!

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Sharing Salary Highlights a Commitment to Equitable Hiring

Today’s job seekers are also looking for future employers that value inclusion and equity—80% of job seekers say DEI is an essential factor when choosing a workplace. A study by Payscale found that openly sharing employee salaries is the top solution to closing the gender pay gap. Not disclosing compensation has long meant that women and minorities get inequitable salary offers. Listing salary sends the message that you’re dedicated to a more equitable workforce, thus appealing to DEI-centric job seekers. 

The HiringThing Guide to DEI Recruiting can help your organization reimagine recruiting through a DEI-centric lens.

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Job Candidates Will Find Salary Ranges Anyway

Whether or not you list salary, it’s easier than ever for job seekers to determine what organizations pay, utilizing the reviews on sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, or Salary.com. 

Additionally, social media, especially LinkedIn, has made it easier for candidates to reach out to former employees and ask about compensation. In an increasingly transparent world, not including salary ranges could make it look like you’re trying to conceal information. The perception is almost always that if you’re trying to conceal information, it’s for negative reasons. 

Strengthen Your Employer Brand

Employer brand is what employees who work for your company and candidates who interview with your organization have to say about their experiences. Candidates need to know that their paycheck will meet their financial needs. To find out at the very end of the hiring process that the pay isn’t sustainable can be devastating. If candidates feel their time has been badly used or they were misled, it can hurt your employer brand.

96% of job seekers say embracing transparency is essential for a good employer brand, and 80% think being open about salary is good for employee satisfaction. 

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Including Salary Ranges Helps You Stand Out

Information obtained by LinkedIn found that only 50% of organizations still disclose salary ranges as part of their interview process. Once again, it’s a candidate's market, and doing anything to set yourself apart from the competition, especially something today’s candidates want, will only reflect favorably on your organization. 

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Not Sharing Salary Ranges is Exclusionary

As much as employers like to talk about families and teams, but people need to make a living. Money is important, and acting like it isn’t disregards that most people work to support themselves and their families, not to find some type of higher meaning.

Putting out the expectation that candidates don’t ask about salary till the end of the interview process and acting like it’s not a significant criteria for whether someone applies to your positions or not puts out the message that you’re only looking for those for whom money isn’t an issue, which is a tiny minority—the majority of Americans regularly worry about money.

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Sharing Salary Ranges Strengthens Your Interview Process

Sharing salary ranges in your job descriptions strengthens the entire interview process, as showcased by the LinkedIn chart below. 

Sharing Salary Ranges Early Streamlines Pay Negotiations

34% of talent professionals who don’t disclose salary are concerned it will limit negotiations since both parties are then coming to the negotiation table with no expectations. Conversely, talent professionals who share a salary range report that the top benefit is more streamlined negotiations. 

Sharing Salary Ranges Ensures Fair Pay

Sharing salary ranges is just another way organizations can standardize the hiring process. Standardizing the hiring process ensures that our inherent biases or gut feelings don’t dictate hiring decisions. Everyone gets a fair shot and fair offer. 

Sharing Salary Ranges Filters Out Those Who Would Decline

Why waste your time interviewing someone who wouldn’t agree to the salary range you’re prepared to offer? Including salary ranges means organizations only interview quality candidates happy with your proposal. 

Getting Salary Out of the Way Allows You to Focus on What's Important

1 in 3 talent professionals who don’t share a salary range worry it will make the interview dwell too much on pay. In contrast, 51% of talent professionals who share a salary range upfront say it allows them to cover other topics more during the process. 

Money is undoubtedly important to job candidates but wouldn’t you, as the employer, instead spend an interview discussing work philosophies, culture adds, innovative ideas, and get to know your candidates rather than go back and forth about what salary is fair? 

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Let Us Know What You Think!

Does your company include salary ranges in the job descriptions? Why? Why not? Have you seen a difference in applicant traffic or candidate experience? Let us know in the comment. 

About HiringThing

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