Salary Transparency on the Rise: Indeed Research Shows Significant Increase in Job Listings with Pay Information

According to data from Indeed on March 14, salary transparency has significantly increased in the past three years. In February 2020, only 18% of job listings provided salary information; by February 2023, this number had more than doubled to 44%.


Indeed researchers suggest that pay transparency laws are only one of the reasons for this rise, as even areas without such requirements have shown an increase in salary disclosure. The STEM-focused fields, particularly banking, finance, mathematics, and software development sectors, have seen the highest growth in salary disclosure.
 
The Southern region had the lowest level of transparency, with modest growth in the metropolitan areas of Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. On the other hand, places like the more outstanding San Jose, California; San Francisco Bay; and Seattle regions witnessed a significant increase in pay transparency in job listings, especially after implementing mandates. Between February 2022 and 2023, Seattle saw a 166% increase, San Francisco Bay had a 185% increase, and the San Jose metropolitan area experienced a staggering 268% increase in transparency.
 
New York City's pay transparency law has also had a visible impact, with a 138% jump in pay disclosure in job listings between February of the current and the previous year.

Interestingly, Utah dominated Indeed's list of high-transparency job areas without mandates. Salary information was provided in at least half of the postings in the Provo-Orem area, Salt Lake City, and the Ogden-Clearfield area.
 
The researchers suggested that the introduction of legislation alone could drive momentum. They cited Hawaii's HB745 bill, introduced in January 2023, which resulted in a 77% increase in Honolulu job listings that included salary information over the past year.
 
STEM industries have ever-evolving norms, and while they have shown the highest growth in salary disclosure, they still lag behind other sectors. According to Indeed researchers, job postings in industrial engineering, chemical engineering, banking, and finance have the lowest salary visibility. Pay information is disclosed in fewer than one-third of job listings. For comparison, about one-third of jobs in scientific research and development and banking and finance declare pay. Nearly 76% of roles in childcare positions, 68% of security and public safety jobs, and 63% of open roles in dentistry reveal salary information.
 
Apart from compliance, there is a business case for transparency in job postings. Tight labor market conditions contribute to higher rates of salary transparency, with employers seeking ways to attract workers in a competitive labor market. Indeed's research supports this, showing that middle-wage job postings used to be the leaders in providing payment information. However, since 2019, higher-wage job listings have also seen a 70% increase in salary advertising.
 
Indeed's findings align with an ongoing labor industry trend, as a recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 67% of organizations voluntarily include starting pay in open role listings, and 70% of respondents said that listing pay ranges for jobs has led to more people applying to their postings. Conversely, 82% of U.S. workers are more likely to consider an open role if the pay range is available, and 74% of U.S. workers are less interested in applying to jobs with undisclosed pay bands.