Why showing salary info matters in the recruitment industry. Q&A with Kate Shoesmith of the REC

The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) is the UK membership body for recruitment businesses, providing policy, training, legal guidance and standards to the sector. Here Kate Shoesmith, Deputy Chief Executive of the REC, tells us why showing salary info on job ads should be a top priority for the recruitment industry.

The REC was one of the first organisations to pledge support for the We Show the Salary campaign – can you tell us a bit about why this is an important issue for you?

Setting the standard for recruiting the right way is at the heart of who we are and what we do at the REC. Every one of our 3,000 corporate members are recruitment businesses that sign up to our Code of Professional Practice, and they must take our compliance assessment to join and stay in membership. Principle 2 in our Code is about transparency. Given our role in setting standards, we should have great standards when we recruit too!

Have you noticed attitudes towards salary transparency changing across the recruitment industry?

Yes, I think things are getting better. We can sometimes fall into a fairly ‘British’ stereotype when we talk about pay in the UK. People can be unsure if they should ask the question, and businesses can be modest about sharing salary information upfront. That may stem from a good place – like why should your new colleagues and external contacts know exactly how much you are earning just because they read it on the job advert?

But at the end of the day, it’s pretty essential information, and recruiters know that. Our members will brief their clients about how to attract the talent that best meets their needs – from where and how to advertise, the recruitment process, and compensation schemes. It’s also part of the norm in permanent recruitment that recruiters take a lead on the salary negotiations that can feel so awkward.

Applying for jobs takes a lot of work and how much you can potentially earn is a crucial piece of information. If you are going to find the right opportunities for you, you need all the available data to weigh up the role, before you put effort into applying.

How does showing salaries on job ads benefit recruitment agencies?

If you’ve ever been a hiring manager, you know just how much effort goes into the process of recruitment. So every effort should be made to make it as efficient as possible – which is where a professional recruiter adds real value. Today’s technology enables a 24/7 application window – and if the salary is on the job ad, then the candidate does not have to wait until office hours to ask a simple question before deciding whether to apply, and the recruiter can focus on what matters.

In an online world, you also want to avoid being inundated with applications, especially if they aren’t suitable for the role. Showing the salary is one step to help with application relevance. This is important in a labour market that currently has a higher number of jobseekers. (See the REC Report on Jobs for more insights on this.)

And what kind of impact does showing salary info have on candidates?

Applying for jobs takes a lot of work and how much you can potentially earn is a crucial piece of information. If you are going to find the right opportunities for you, you need all the available data to weigh up the role, before you put effort into applying. There is nothing worse than feeling like you have wasted your time once you are made aware of the relevant information.

If showing salary info means attracting clients and candidates that align with your values and can see that you are recruiting the right way – then why not take the step?

How can recruiters influence and persuade clients to include salaries when advertising roles?

The message that many of our members often come back to is – we will help you do everything we can to find the right person for your role but let's avoid the scenario where your perfect candidate skips over your job posting and you never get to meet them, just because other roles show them the salary and yours doesn’t.

What role can recruitment businesses play in driving a cultural shift towards being open about pay on job ads?

Recruiters have access to such a lot of labour market intelligence. They can tell you what other businesses in a locality or the sector they are serving are doing when it comes to recruitment and retention. They will share their knowledge and expertise with clients to help them learn from that great practice, as well as areas for learning. Recruitment professionals are one of the best sources of information on trends in recruitment and cultural changes in employment.

Finally, what message would you like to share with recruitment businesses who are considering joining the We Show the Salary movement but haven’t taken the step yet?

The key question to ask yourself is what have you got to lose? If showing salary info means attracting clients and candidates that align with your values and can see that you are recruiting the right way – then why not take the step?