[UK] More than half of LinkedIn job ads fail to include salary

New research into salary transparency in the UK job market has revealed that many businesses continue to be unwilling to disclose pay rates for employees and prospective employees, The Global Recruiter reports. 

The study - by HR resource People Managing People - analysed more than 4,000 live job adverts around the UK, from junior to director level positions, across 24 different sectors. 

It reportedly found that more than half (53 per cent) didn’t include salary details with businesses in media and entertainment, healthcare and even the finance industry among the least financially transparent.

The sector revealed most likely to leave out salary information in job adverts is media and entertainment; a significant majority (84 per cent) failed to include pay details. The healthcare sector was close behind (78 per cent), while more than three-quarters (74 per cent) of tech roles had no pay information and 73 per cent of finance roles omitted these details too.

Salaries for junior-level roles reportedly start from around £12,000 a year in the media and entertainment industry; a rate 28 per cent lower than the national average salary of £42,210.

David Rice - HR expert at People Managing People - said, “To keep people interested in ‘chasing the dragon’ of high wage punditry, it’s unlikely organisations in this sector will publicly disclose that a majority of people in the field are, let’s face it, going to struggle to pay their bills.”

Regionally, jobs in London were found the least likely to include salary information (74 per cent), followed by Edinburgh (54 per cent) and Bristol and Manchester (52 per cent).

Businesses in Greater London were revealed to be least likely (72 per cent) to share details about pay. Beyond the capital, almost half of the businesses analysed in Scotland and the South East were likely to leave out salary details (45 per cent).

Previous studies have demonstrated that improving salary transparency has been on UK businesses’ agenda for some time. In 2023, a study revealed that 54 per cent were considering disclosing individual pay ranges to employees.

However, experts are reportedly concerned about the lack of salary transparency that persists and how it contributes to gender and racial pay gaps. The latest research shows women are paid 7.7 per cent less than men in the UK while minority ethnic groups earn 25 per cent less than white workers on average.

Mr Rice said, “There’s a lot of reasons why businesses are reluctant to share salary information, but it primarily comes down to the desire to create a competitive market and the fact that organisations have paid women less than men, and minorities not as much as whites for a long time.

“It’s saved businesses a lot of money. By publicly defining what a role is worth, businesses signal how they value the occupant of the position but they also potentially drive away talent which have bigger salary expectations.

“But, businesses can save themselves time by attracting people who are interested in the job, and knowing what they’re paying for it. This saves time in the negotiation phase, it ensures better buy-in from new hires and when people feel fairly paid, they tend to be more invested and more productive.

“A big reason that needs to be talked about more is that trust between employers and employees/candidates is low.

“At the end of the day, businesses exist to make money, but for too long it’s felt as if the benefit to the bottom line has come at the cost of the people who create the bottom line result.

“By advocating for transparency and clarity in job advertisements, we can create a more equitable job market where candidates feel empowered to pursue opportunities that meet their financial expectations, and they are paid for the value they will bring to a business.”

The full study can be viewed here.

Source: The Global Recruiter

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

New research into salary transparency in the UK job market has revealed that many businesses continue to be unwilling to disclose pay rates for employees and prospective employees, The Global Recruiter reports. 

The study - by HR resource People Managing People - analysed more than 4,000 live job adverts around the UK, from junior to director level positions, across 24 different sectors. 

It reportedly found that more than half (53 per cent) didn’t include salary details with businesses in media and entertainment, healthcare and even the finance industry among the least financially transparent.

The sector revealed most likely to leave out salary information in job adverts is media and entertainment; a significant majority (84 per cent) failed to include pay details. The healthcare sector was close behind (78 per cent), while more than three-quarters (74 per cent) of tech roles had no pay information and 73 per cent of finance roles omitted these details too.

Salaries for junior-level roles reportedly start from around £12,000 a year in the media and entertainment industry; a rate 28 per cent lower than the national average salary of £42,210.

David Rice - HR expert at People Managing People - said, “To keep people interested in ‘chasing the dragon’ of high wage punditry, it’s unlikely organisations in this sector will publicly disclose that a majority of people in the field are, let’s face it, going to struggle to pay their bills.”

Regionally, jobs in London were found the least likely to include salary information (74 per cent), followed by Edinburgh (54 per cent) and Bristol and Manchester (52 per cent).

Businesses in Greater London were revealed to be least likely (72 per cent) to share details about pay. Beyond the capital, almost half of the businesses analysed in Scotland and the South East were likely to leave out salary details (45 per cent).

Previous studies have demonstrated that improving salary transparency has been on UK businesses’ agenda for some time. In 2023, a study revealed that 54 per cent were considering disclosing individual pay ranges to employees.

However, experts are reportedly concerned about the lack of salary transparency that persists and how it contributes to gender and racial pay gaps. The latest research shows women are paid 7.7 per cent less than men in the UK while minority ethnic groups earn 25 per cent less than white workers on average.

Mr Rice said, “There’s a lot of reasons why businesses are reluctant to share salary information, but it primarily comes down to the desire to create a competitive market and the fact that organisations have paid women less than men, and minorities not as much as whites for a long time.

“It’s saved businesses a lot of money. By publicly defining what a role is worth, businesses signal how they value the occupant of the position but they also potentially drive away talent which have bigger salary expectations.

“But, businesses can save themselves time by attracting people who are interested in the job, and knowing what they’re paying for it. This saves time in the negotiation phase, it ensures better buy-in from new hires and when people feel fairly paid, they tend to be more invested and more productive.

“A big reason that needs to be talked about more is that trust between employers and employees/candidates is low.

“At the end of the day, businesses exist to make money, but for too long it’s felt as if the benefit to the bottom line has come at the cost of the people who create the bottom line result.

“By advocating for transparency and clarity in job advertisements, we can create a more equitable job market where candidates feel empowered to pursue opportunities that meet their financial expectations, and they are paid for the value they will bring to a business.”

The full study can be viewed here.

Source: The Global Recruiter

(Links and quotes via original reporting)