In the weeks since the EU Pay Transparency rules came into full force, how have organizations reacted to the change?
On 7 June, the implementation deadline was passed for the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which requires EU employers to offer greater pay and pay transparency to job applicants and employees. I The policy aims to reduce the gender pay gap, ensure fair salary structures and create an environment where professionals and job seekers can have open discussions about salary and other topics.
Since it was first adopted in 2023, countries are given three years to comply with the new rules and make any necessary changes. It’s been a month now since that last time, but what has changed?
Job search platform Mokaru analyzed nearly 1.8m job listings worldwide posted between the beginning of April and the end of June on the job sites of 48,758 employers, across more than 46 application tracking systems. It found that almost one month after the EU Pay Transparency Directive deadline, only 6.6pc of EU job adverts disclosed salary information. This compares to 37.5pc in the US.
“If you are hunting in Europe, you already know the routine, read the list, scan the salary, you don’t get anything, apply anyway and hope that the number at the end of the four rounds of interviews will not waste everyone’s time,” reads Mokaru’s statement. “Our data shows how bad it is and how it can vary.”
Landscaping
Canada and the US lead the effort, with more than a third (39.4pc and 37.5pc respectively) of listings in these countries reporting wages. In comparison, the UK is third at 21.6pc, followed by the Netherlands at 12.2pc, Australia at 11pc, Ireland at 10.7pc, France at 9.8pc and Austria at 9.4pc.
Mokaru also found that the numbers varied widely even in cases where employers from different regions were using the same job promotion platforms. For example, on Labor Day only 2.8pc of German employers chose to disclose salary information, compared to over 43pc of US employers.
Sweden lies at the bottom of the list, with the least transparent job market at 0.4pc, or less than one job in 200. Despite the fact that the law comes into force and the European Commission adheres to the timeline, many countries have chosen to push the implementation to the beginning of 2027, Sweden has stopped the implementation completely and wants to be renegotiated.
Mokaru said: “For us to deal with the law, it is the first days. Four weeks is not enough time to rewrite the employment and in many member states the national law binding employers is not yet in force, the bulk of the implementation will come between now and January 2027, with follow-up and subsequent penalties later.
“The honest conclusion from this data is not that the order has failed, that, one month, the behavior of the employer has not started to go.”
Growing trends
The research highlighted some striking patterns and trends, such as the impact that policy has had so far on long-term careers. The data revealed that remote job listings in the EU are almost twice as likely to disclose salary (11.5pc), compared to on-site listings (6.2pc).
The report said: “Remote recruiters are competing in an international talent pool, where US-style transparency is increasingly the norm. Competition currently does more for European pay transparency than regulation. In the US, the remote/onsite gap is almost non-existent (39.5pc compared to 37.4pc) – regardless of where transparency rules apply.”
Looking at Ireland-specific data, Mokaru also found that as executives get older, transparency tends to decrease, with around 32.1pc of junior roles disclosing pay, compared to 11.2pc of senior roles and 9.9pc of senior roles.
“More than four out of five Irish job adverts keep people guessing and the stakes are high, making the advert quieter.”
Finally, Mokaru’s experts are of the opinion that the burden of the European knowledge gap falls more on those with less bargaining power – invested people who do not have the money to go through multiple rounds of interviews “when the offer comes under their floor”.
And “until the directive has teeth”, European candidates should know the characteristics that best indicate that the role they are applying for is in a company that is likely to accept change in policy.
So until then, be aware of your rights, look for remote opportunities and research market prices because even if your potential employer plans to keep you in the dark, the information is probably available elsewhere.
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