Why don’t employers advertise salary information on job adverts?

Why don’t employers advertise salary information on job adverts?

It’s a common question asked by job seekers. And the common perception is that it’s so employers “𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡”

Those of us who have been around the block for a while know that there are a fair few different reasons why companies choose not to advertise salary.

Here are the two most common in my experience:

 
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨

The banding for a role is £40,000 - £50,000, but the hiring manager is willing to pay up to £55,000 for somebody who is going to bring additional value into the team.

If the role is advertised at £40,000 - £50,000 then somebody who’s looking for £55,000 isn’t going to apply.

If the role is advertised at £40,000 - £55,000 then the existing team are all going to be asking why they’re not paid up to £55,000.

HR and managers will spend all their time explaining why a potential new hire might be paid more than they are.

When the new hire joins, they’re probably going to have a tough time with their new colleagues.

 
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭

Most companies will benchmark their salary ranges maybe once a year. The market can often move much faster than that.

Not advertising salary allows them to be flexible and adapt what they’re willing to pay based on market changes.
 
There are loads of other reasons why companies choose not to advertise salary.

The point of this post isn’t to agree or disagree with the reasons, but to dispel the perception that it’s to “pay you as little as they can get away with”.

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