Pay transparency is on the rise……great, in principle.
According to Indeed’s 2025 Jobs and Hiring Trends Report, 37% of Australian job postings in 2024 included a pay range, up from 35% the year before. The pressure to disclose salaries is growing, but is it actually benefiting job seekers or is it just a box-ticking exercise?
Based on client discussions and market conditions at the time, I provide a realistic $$ range on my job posts. Tick. But I can think of instances when I’ve presented shortlists that included candidates with higher expectations. Candidates I’d approached who’d seen the ad but not applied for the ‘perceived’ pay range. And they got the job….
Government roles have rigid highly visible pay bands and rarely step outside this framework, however, is the private sector just paying lip service to transparency?
How much weight should we place on the advertised numbers?
💰 Are pay ranges in some cases misleading?
💰 Are overly broad ranges no more than a fishing exercise?
💰 How many candidates are turned off seeing a slightly lower range?
Are we unintentionally discouraging great candidates from applying if the range appears too low when there is often ‘wriggle room’?
Whilst I will continue to post a pay range on job ads, I maintain that candidates find it equally (if not more) helpful to discuss the full salary/contractor rate details during a screening call.
I have nothing to hide. Providing context and presenting the role and package fully (with all the benefits, potential challenges and stakeholder expectations) allows for informed decision-making. For the record, I don’t like wasting anyone’s time either; if there isn’t a cat in hell’s chance of meeting your expectations, then agreeing to bow out early is the sensible option.
So what does pay transparency look like in the future? Hiking the pay band on adverts just to cast the net wide with no intention of ever offering close to that figure isn’t the answer, that’s for sure. I believe in open conversations that don’t feel like horsetrading situations or the need to back anyone into a corner to come up with a $$ figure without knowing all the details.
Leave a comment, I’m curious to know if a pay range on an advert has helped or hindered your job search or if the range didn’t ‘quite’ meet your expectations have you still applied (or picked up the phone to discuss)? Or did you rule out exploring the role further? And if you are an employer what’s been your experience with pay transparency in adverts?
