23/08/2024
Less than half (47.7%) of job adverts featured salary information in June 2024, the lowest recorded figure since job postings platform Adzuna started tracking the metric in 2016.
This compares to May 2024, when 49.5% of job adverts featured salary information, according to a report published by Adzuna today (29 July).
A previous report published by Adzuna revealed that less than half of all job postings have been transparent about salary since July 2023, when the proportion of job postings with salary information fell below 50% for the first time.
Employers might not advertise salaries during periods of economic uncertainty, according to Derek Mackenzie, CEO of Investigo, part of recruitment firm The IN Group.
He told HR magazine: “During challenging economic times, employers are always looking to keep costs down wherever they can. By not advertising salaries they leave the door open to lowball candidates.
“The reality is that this is quite a dangerous approach and can instantly shatter trust with applicants if expectations on salary aren’t met. When looking to hire a new staff member, recruitment and HR teams need to be specific in their requirements.”
The Adzuna team also found that the number of vacancies in the UK has fallen to their lowest level since March 2021. They fell 19.49% year-on-year to 852,703 in June 2024.
Meanwhile, jobseeker figures rose from 1.91 jobseekers per live vacancy in May 2024 to 1.95 in June. This was the highest figure in three years, since 2.07 jobseekers per vacancy was recorded in June 2021.
Employers should include salary information in job postings to remain attractive against competitors, recommended Andrew Hunter, Adzuna's co-founder.
“In an era of skills shortages and talent war, employers who are hiding salaries in job ads will lose out talent to employers who are open about their compensation and benefits package from day one,” he told HR magazine.
He continued: “In recruitment, better salary transparency means maximising recruitment budgets and signifies a greater chance of attracting the best talent.
“While the power dynamic may be tipping towards employers, jobseekers retain significant control during recruitment processes.
“Many jobseekers nowadays prioritise companies that demonstrate a strong commitment to transparency, equity, and fairness, and they are not afraid to reject organisations that do not align with their values. Leaving out salaries in job ads would be perceived as a huge red flag.”
Sophie Fletcher, people business partner at freelance management solution provider Malt, told HR magazine that employers should be transparent about salary to prepare for upcoming changes in EU law.
“The new EU set salary transparency directive that is planned to come into effect in 2026 is set to ensure that companies are transparent internally about their salary bands. It would make sense for them to mirror that transparency externally within job adverts as well,” she explained.
“Currently, many companies don't post salary bands in their ads simply because they haven't reached that level of internal transparency, which could certainly lead to initial challenges as this directive is implemented.”
The EU Pay Transparency Directive will not impact UK companies but it will require firms with over 250 employees who hire or operate in the EU to publish salary information, including gender pay gap data.
Similar legislation could be introduced in the UK, as the Labour party has pledged to introduce its Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which would make ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting a legal requirement for large firms with over 250 employees.
Adzuna indexes and analyses online job vacancies in the UK from over 1,000 sources for its Job Market Report. The June 2024 report was published on 29 July 2024.
Original Article: HRmagazine
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