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Recruiting
Published:
May 29, 2023

Salary: should it be included or not in job postings?

Tamara

Should the salary range be included in the job advertisement or not? This is a widespread question that worries many employers. Moreover, some are in favor of indicating the salary in job posts, whereas others are categorically against it. At the same time, both sides give quite sound arguments to support their points of view. The first ones believe that job ads with salary ranges are more attractive to job seekers. The second ones argue that this may weaken the negotiating tactics. Which of them are right?

 

It is high time to take a closer look at the arguments of both sides.

What are the reasons for not including the salary in job postings?

What are the benefits of including the salary range in job ads?

What are the prospects?

What are the reasons for not including the salary in job postings?

Inlude salary in job postings

There are good reasons for keeping salaries a secret. The main reasons can be summarized as follows:

  • This is cost-effective.

Labor costs are the main expenses of any company. So, if they do not mention in the job description how much they are willing to pay, they can hire candidates for less money.

  • This provides more flexibility for negotiations.

Keeping salaries under wraps can be an excellent negotiating strategy, reducing labor costs.

  • It can be an advantage over competitors.

Hiding salary information for the vacancy will prevent competitors from seeing how much the company is ready to pay and using this data to their advantage.

  • It can prevent companies from losing their current employees.

Current company employees may also look at their company’s job postings and discover that they are paid less than they could be. And this fact can push them to ask for a pay raise or leave the company.

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What are the benefits of including the salary range in job ads?

Don't include salary in job postings

The case for including salaries in job adverts is no less compelling. The main reasons can be represented in this way:

  • This item in the ad can attract more candidates.

Many candidates simply do not apply for jobs whose postings do not list salaries. Thus, employers may miss precious candidates who will go to competitors. Conversely, companies that have indicated wages will not let such candidates through.

  • This will attract more conscious candidates.

If companies specify the salary range, this will help them save time and immediately weed out applicants not interested in anything else but salary. In return, they will acquire more conscious applicants who, besides salary, are also interested in other factors, like corporate culture, career opportunities, exciting projects, etc.

  • This is good for the company’s reputation.

This demonstrates that the company adheres to the policy of transparency and fairness. Such a company will not manipulate wages and subsequently offer new employees less money than they could expect. Therefore, more candidates will be able to feel trust in such a company and be more willing to apply for the vacancy.

  • This will cut off those job seekers who claim higher salaries.

Companies that list salaries will likely lose some potential candidates who are not satisfied with the indicated salaries. But they will definitely save time and effort by not conducting interviews with such candidates.

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What are the prospects?

Salary range in job ads

To date, the outlook is that more and more companies will soon be disclosing how much they will pay. And for this trend, there are also weighty arguments:

  1. Tightening the labor market

Increasingly intensifying competition in the job market for the best talent forces employers to look for ways to make their job postings more appealing than their competitors’. And just the disclosure of salary information makes the vacancy announcement more attractive to job seekers.

  1. Legislative change

Local governments will require more companies to disclose salary information. In particular, such a law requiring employers to include the salary range in their job ads is already in effect in New York.

Thus, how to design your job posting is your decision. But you should think carefully about including salary information in it, especially since trends indicate that this item in the ad may become mandatory soon.

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