# Story 1: Salary transparency and Gen Z talent

- **Episode:** [134](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/134.md) (2024-10-08)
- **Type:** news-roundup
- **Tags:** salary-transparency, gen-z, talent, compensation
- **Time:** 2:36–7:12 (start 156s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/134?t=156](https://truthliesandwork.com/134?t=156)

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[2:36] Leanne Elliott: I came across some interesting news about salary transparency I thought was worth talking about, um, and especially worth thinking about for small business owners looking to hire Gen Z talent, which is a question that seems to be coming up quite frequently on the, um, the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery at the moment. So a new survey has found that nearly half of UK employers plan to start including salary ranges in their job listings over the next 2 years, compared to 17% that are doing it now
[3:09] Al Elliott: Hurrah!
[3:11] Leanne Elliott: This is a major shift, and it's largely driven by the need to attract younger workers. Gen Z are all about transparency. In fact, 85% of Gen Z workers say they're less likely to apply for a job if the salary isn't listed. They're also much more open about discussing their pay with colleagues, which is something older generations often avoided. So if you're running a small business and trying to appeal to younger talent, being upfront about salary could give you a real competitive edge. Right now, many companies are reluctant to share salary information because they worry it'll cause tension if current— if current employees find out someone else is making more. Should quite rightly cause tension if that is the case. But with the labor market tightening and Gen Z demanding more transparency, employers are realizing that salary transparency could actually be a smart move. It's not just about being fair, it's also about building trust and creating an environment where employees feel valued and motivated. And the trend also ties into a broader push for fair pay. The EU is planning to introduce stricter, stricter salary transparency by 2026, aiming to tackle the gender pay gap and bring more fairness to the workplace. Companies are starting to prepare for these changes by aligning their salary policies across the board. I've said it before, I'll say it again, if you're looking to attract Gen Z talent as a small business, this is a really good way to do it. Uh, transparent about your pay, be transparent Um, otherwise you won't be appealing to Gen Z and also potentially showing that your company may not be as modern, inclusive, or as fair as you would like to think it is. Um, so yeah, studies have shown employees who feel they are paid fairly— um, in my world, that's called procedural justice— they are more likely to stay with your company, which is crucial really for retaining top talent. Al, thoughts?
[5:06] Al Elliott: I think if you, if you're in a company and you say, well, we can't do this because Jeff might find out, you know, you're not doing it right because it's— we're gone are the days where, like, in, in the days of our dads, and our dads are boomer generation, they, they always said, oh, it's rude to talk about money. You could ask— I remember asking my dad how much he, how much he got paid, and he almost hit me around the face. He's like, you do not ask anything like that, blah, blah. Whereas now it's like, how much you get paid? And people will tell you. If you're keeping secrets between your employees, you're doing something wrong, I think
[5:37] Leanne Elliott: Yeah. Same. I have no idea how much money my dad made because I daren't ask. I don't know how much money my friends make, to be honest. We talk very broadly about it, but not transparently about it. And that's only one generation above. So yeah, it's an interesting shift. I think ultimately, if any company is worried about these laws coming in around pay transparency, it can only be because you've got unfair unfair pay happening in terms of like-for-like jobs or indeed the same job. So yeah, I think it's, I think it's, it sounds pretty basic, but will be really impactful. I think just that level of, level of transparency
[6:18] Al Elliott: And in fact, this Thursday, we have got a couple of guys on who talk about the tech industry. And I think if I remember, I was doing that, I was going through their interview this morning. And if I remember, they say that in California now, it's the very largest state, I think, in America. California, you have to put on there a pay range now, whereas in some states you don't. Um, so I think maybe I've got that wrong, but you'll find out on Thursday how wrong I am. But they're saying it's just— it's— and that's made a massive difference because now if you go for a job in California, you know roughly what you're going to get paid
[6:45] Leanne Elliott: And that's bollocks as well, isn't it? When like, oh, salary will be discussed at interview, it's like, how many rounds of recruitment do you want me to bounce through before we realize that this is just nowhere near my expectations in terms of salary?
[6:57] Al Elliott: Exactly
[6:57] Leanne Elliott: A waste of everyone's time
[6:58] Al Elliott: You wouldn't go to the supermarket and then wait till you get to the till to find out how much your tin of tomatoes was
[7:02] Leanne Elliott: How much?
[7:02] Al Elliott: Yeah, I know, you can have that back
[7:04] Leanne Elliott: Anyway, I will leave— I'll leave the link in the, uh, in the show notes. It's quite interesting, uh, succinct little article there. Al, what have you seen this week?