Over 50% of UK job ads do not include salary

Half of UK job vacancies do not include a published salary, finds research from job search engine Adzuna.co.uk, also revealing EY, Google and HSBC as the least transparent employers on the matter.
Wed, 14 Aug 2013Half of UK job vacancies do not include a published salary, finds research from job search engine Adzuna.co.uk, which also reveals EY, Google and HSBC as the UK’s least transparent employers on the matter.

Adzuna says that it analysed nearly every UK job ad in August – over 500,000 in total – finding property and healthcare as the most transparent sectors, where 90% of roles include salary.

The least transparent job sectors are energy and executive, where as few as one in five roles display a salary in the ad, the same rate as seen across sectors for part-time and graduate roles. City sectors are also on the secretive side, with 40,000 roles in the Square Mile listed without pay.

Scotland is the region least likely to list pay, with only 42% of adverts North of the border doing so.

Among the major firms most likely to disclose salary are restaurant chain Nandos and retailer Tesco. The top 10 companies for percentage of ads not showing a salary are:

  1. Google (100%)
  2. HSBC (99%)
  3. EY (98%)
  4. Johnson Controls (84%)
  5. Rolls-Royce (75%)
  6. Royal Mail (75%)
  7. RBS (74%)
  8. JP Morgan (69%)
  9. Vodafone (69%)
  10. Deloitte (67%)

An RBS spokesperson tells recruiter.co.uk: "We have a case-by-case approach which takes account of the market in which the role is being advertised, the type of role and the type of person that we are looking to attract."

Meanwhile, EY says that it does not state salaries on their job advertisements "because, like many organisations, salaries at EY are based on pay scales and may vary greatly depending on an individual’s level of experience".

Google and HSBC did not respond to recruiter.co.uk's request for comment.

Adzuna head of research Flora Lowther suggests that salary no-shows have the effect of “putting candidates off applying for these roles and making the job market less efficient”.

“We believe that jobseekers have a right to know what pay to expect,” she says.

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