The real reason why companies don’t share salary information (Medium)

Yes, salary information should be included in job postings.

Both candidates and recruiters agree, so… why isn’t it happening?

The short answer is “Unfortunately, it’s not the Recruiter’s decision”. The longer answer is well… A LOT.

As you’ve probably seen already, NYC Employers will be required to post salary ranges in job postings starting in November 2022. It was supposed to kick off back in May but, well… companies didn’t agree!

Openly sharing salary information is fantastic, and I could not be more excited about it. This decision will push more equitably, inclusive, and fair hiring practices and I’m 100% that other States will follow suit shortly. (More great news!)

Candidates, Recruiters, and ED&I Practitioners have been advocating for pay transparency for years so… why is it taking this long? Why all the push-back?

Let’s take a few minutes to go over a very quick summary of why companies have been struggling with openly sharing their salary bands:

💰 Pay Parity

Unfortunately, many companies and leaders still don’t believe in pay parity (meaning, equal pay for equal work). Yes, even in 2022.

💰 Pay Equity

Many companies believe in pay parity and have reviewed their internal processes and systems to ensure they are following an “equal pay for equal jobs” framework.

However, they are still struggling with pay Equity — which directly impacts the systems that determine, among other things, who gets access to roles/promotions/salary raises/bonuses and when.
Enter the pay gap!

💰Pay Transparency and its impact on Talent Retention

Sharing salary bands with external candidates (and the World), also means that the current employees at that company will have access to that information too, and unfortunately, this is one of the major reasons why companies decide not to share salary data.

If a company has been struggling with Pay Parity and Pay Equity, it’s likely they don’t have an internal Pay Transparency policy either (basically, no one officially knows what their colleagues are making, what the salary bands for their roles are, or even how they fall within that band).

Sharing salary information with external candidates, without taking the necessary steps to ensure current employees understand their own salary bands and how promotions/raises are decided, could hugely impact that company’s talent retention strategies.

Hope this info helps to give a bit more context to the many conversations that have occurred during the last few weeks.

Dani Herrera is an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Professional. She specializes in analyzing & deconstructing processes to help organizations achieve Inclusive and Equitable Cultures.

Dani has been named one of Mogul’s Top 100 DEI Leaders in 2021.

Please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielagherrera/ to learn more about her career, speaking engagements, and press features.