The Benefits of Adding a Salary Range to Your Job Posts

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As states enact laws around pay transparency and encourage fair hiring and compensation practices, we wanted to take a moment to explain why you may be legally required to include salary ranges in your job postings, and also, why you should anyway.

In the United States, Colorado led the way on the pay transparency movement in 2021, requiring businesses to list salary ranges in all job descriptions that could be filled by a person working in Colorado — yes, even remotely. Since then, Washington State, New York City, California, and the European Union have all passed laws requiring that salary ranges be included in job ads, with many more states in the US requiring ranges be provided to job applicants on request at various points throughout the hiring process.

If you’re hiring in any of those states or cities (and depending on the size of your company), it is required to include compensation information in your job postings. But there are other reasons why, even if you’re not hiring in any of those places, including salary ranges in your job posts can be beneficial not just for potential applicants, but your business as well.

Benefits of Including Salary Ranges in Job Descriptions

  1. It’s the first thing applicants look for. According to research from LinkedIn, salary range and benefits are the sections of job descriptions that matter most to applicants, with 61% of people surveyed saying compensation was the most important part. Salary range is also often cited as one of the most-asked questions in initial interviews. So why not cut to the chase? Putting salary ranges in your job descriptions gives applicants the information they’re looking for, and saves time for hiring managers later on.
  2. It sets your company apart. Only 12 percent of postings on US job sites include salary ranges. While that is an increase from recent years, probably in part to the new laws, giving a salary range in your job descriptions is still rare enough that including them in yours will set your company apart.
  3. It increases engagement. When applicants look for salary ranges on job descriptions, and see one on yours, four in five job seekers say they are more likely to apply. Yep, you read that right. Your job postings will convert better if you include salary information, meaning a bigger pool for finding the perfect person to fill the job.
  4. It creates a more qualified applicant pool and saves your team time. Ask your hiring managers if they’ve been asked about salary information during an interview, and felt the conversation slow down (or end) when it became obvious the applicant was no longer interested. Or ask them if they’ve ever been ghosted after disclosing salary information. Let candidates opt out before they even apply, and spend your time with applicants who actually want the job.
  5. It’s the right thing to do. It is. When you keep in mind the reasoning behind these laws — increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion and closing the pay gap — it’s not hard to see why you should be including pay ranges whether or not you’re legally required to do so. We all should contribute to ensuring marginalized groups are paid the same as others in similar roles, and one of the first steps towards that goal is giving all applicants the same information upfront. Pay transparency is a good thing, full stop.

How to Include Salary Information in Job Descriptions

At Getro, we’ve made it easy. Every manual job posting on our boards includes the option for customers to add a salary range. If you forget, we’ll remind you with a quick pop-up before the post is submitted with more information.

Is this a conversation you’re having at your company? Let us know your thoughts and approach to pay transparency.