Pay transparency trend relies on the labour market's future

If the labour market softens, firms can decide whether or not to openly disclose salaries.

- Consuelo Marquez

HR & EDUCATION 

The question of advertising the salary range is an ageold one, though recent job listings reflect a growing support for it due to fierce job competition. While

Singapore has no legislation requiring disclosures, experts question if firms will continue openly revealing the salary when the recruitment races have died down.

“[Softening labour market] will determine whether this recent trend towards greater pay transparency is going to persist or whether it is a temporary trend that has emerged due to the unique circumstances of the pandemic and its recovery,” Callum Pickering, Indeed's APAC senior lead economist, told the Singapore Business Review.

Shermaine See, a principal consultant at life sciences specialist recruiter EPM Scientific, said pay transparency will likely increase slowly for the life sciences jobs market due to fairness and diversity.

Especially when niche talents show up, companies are more likely to release pay information since talent that fits these posts is harder to find. An example of rare talent is a scientist with mRNA experience.

Job hunting portal Indeed’s 2023 study showed that pay transparency is 1.8 times higher in March 2023 compared with the same period in 2019. More than 40% of all job postings in administration, sales, and marketing revealed their salary.