Quarter of job ads fail to disclose salary, research finds

One in four UK job ads did not show a salary, according to findings from HR Datahub after analysing 2.8 million adverts. 

The research showed wide gaps in pay transparency among the country’s biggest employers. 

Some, like Sodexo Ltd, published salaries in nearly every ad, with a disclosure rate of 99.6% from 5,033 job ads. 

Others, such as Language Empire Ltd, only showed pay in 24.5% of their 3,996 postings.

Co-op Group posted salary details in 99% of its 8,461 job ads. 

Absolute Interpreting and Translations Ltd published pay in 98.1% of 16,839 adverts. 

Ministry of Justice included salary in 97% of 5,558 ads and the NHS disclosed pay in 89.7% of 167,113 adverts.

Lidl disclosed pay in 77.5% of 4,118 job ads, Tesco in 73.2% of 6,008, Mitie in 54.5% of 6,436 and Whitbread in 54.3% of 4,032 ads.

Matt Eyre, employer branding and colleague value proposition lead at Co-op, said: “Salary transparency plays an important role in making recruitment fairer. 

“At Co-op, we include clear pay information on all our job adverts because it helps candidates make informed decisions and supports a more inclusive hiring process. 

“It’s also beneficial to us as a business, because we know we get more applications from a more diverse range of qualified candidates when we publish salary details.”

Pay transparency dropped at senior levels. 

Only 39% of companies published director pay ranges, compared to 67% for frontline jobs.

Home services had the highest at 98.5%. 

Public sector stood at 90.4%, transport, distribution and storage at 88.4%, real estate at 87.4%, charity and non-profit at 86.2% and education at 83.5%. 

Mining and quarrying was lowest at 64.6%.

The EU pay transparency directive will come into force in June 2026. 

KPMG said UK employers with operations in the EU will have to show salaries, avoid asking for pay history and report gender pay gaps if they have over 100 staff.

Gartner found 44% of candidates did not apply for jobs where pay was hidden.

David Whifield, CEO and co-founder at HR Datahub, said: “Transparency levels the playing field so that everyone, regardless of gender, race or class, has an equal opportunity to earn a fair salary. 

“It also gives candidates information to negotiate a fair and equitable salary based on what the role is worth to the company, rather than what they have the confidence to push for or what they were previously paid. 

“Companies that don’t embrace pay transparency will fall behind. Leaders should be thinking about ‘when’ not ‘if’ to make the shift.”