UK Gen Zers set to finally see salary ranges for job listings

Almost half of UK employers plan to follow common practice across the Atlantic by introducing salary ranges in their job listings.

About 48% of employers surveyed by Mercer International Inc. have said they will bring in salary information within the next two years, up from just 17% currently.

Employers have historically been reluctant to engage in pay transparency, fearing that it could cause unrest among current employees who might demand pay rises or compete with their higher-paid colleagues.

Several US states have enacted laws requiring employers to disclose salary ranges on their job listings, but Britain and Europe have lagged behind in these regulations.

However, amid a tighter labor market, employers appear motivated in part by a desire to attract top talent and retain current employees.

Last year, Adobe’s Future Workforce study found that 85 percent of Gen Z employees were “less likely” to apply for a job if the salary range wasn’t mentioned in the application.

Gen Z are also much more likely to discuss their salary with colleagues, breaking with the long-standing tradition of salary modesty among older generations.

“It seems to be a really positive thing for employers,” said Lucy Brown, DEI and pay equity consultancy lead at Mercer. Bloomberg. “Employees who say they are paid fairly are twice as likely to say they understand why they are paid as what they are paid.”

Most respondents to the Mercer survey said they were motivated by compliance issues, with the EU’s Pay Transparency Directive set to impose stricter laws on employers. The EU will introduce the directive in June 2026 in a bid to close the gender pay gap, which it said was partly driven by opaque pay gaps at the time of application.

The UK, however, has no guidance on pay transparency.

More employers plan to introduce global frameworks to align pay transparency policies across their offices, suggesting that compliance requirements in one region serve as a much-needed push for employers to change their practices to encourage retention.

While bosses’ perceptions of pay transparency have shifted toward that of a fragmented workforce, studies suggest that it may instead motivate employees to work harder, especially those who realize that they are paid more than their colleagues.

Meanwhile, employees have been motivated to seek new opportunities in the past due to the salary increase caused by hopping. While salary growth for changing jobs has slowed in recent years, the current lack of pay still inspires employees to make the switch.

A Mercer study last year found that employees who stayed put received a 5.6 percent raise, while those who left received an average raise of 16.4 percent.

HR professionals see the willingness to leave for higher pay as a matter of fairness. They hope that more salary transparency will rebalance these perceptions.