The policy of pay transparency that states are putting into law allows job seekers and employees to better advocate for themselves, and it can begin to close the gender and race pay gaps as part of wider diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts.
Job seekers throughout the country may find themselves frustrated by the lack of information on how much a potential job will pay on job postings.
Turns out, nowhere is that frustration likely to occur more than right here in the Rio Grande Valley, according to one study.
The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan area was ranked as having the lowest transparency when it comes to salary information on job postings listed on Indeed in the entire nation, according to data from Indeed Hiring Lab, the economic research arm of the job site.
As of February, 29.9% of job postings in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area included salary information. Though the lowest in the country, that percentage was an increase from just a year prior when only 23.3% of job postings disclosed wage.
The increase reflects the overall trend across the country.
Over the last three years, the share of U.S. job postings on Indeed that included salary information more than doubled, from 18.4% to 43.7% between February 2020 to February 2023, the study found.
Kristen Shah, Indeed’s career trends expert, said trends in pay transparency are driven by laws requiring salaries to be disclosed and shifting job seeker expectations in tight labor markets.
“We have data that suggests that higher rates of benefit advertisement in job postings reflected market trends,” Shah said in an email. “Along those same lines, employers may be willing to provide more salary information to attract workers.”
The jobs with the most wage transparency were those in the fields of childcare, security and public safety, and dental while those in engineering, banking and finance were typically less transparent about salaries in job posts.
However, banking and finance are among the industries where pay transparency has grown the most over the last year. Other industries where transparency has increased include software development and mathematics — occupations that offer high wages and which have historically not disclosed detailed pay information up front, according to Indeed.
While the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area lags behind the rest of the country in pay transparency, Shah said they believe transparency will continue to increase here. That could be because of remote and hybrid work which many companies implemented because of the COVID-19 pandemic and which will likely continue for many workers.
Shah pointed out that many state regulations apply to organizations if they employ at least one worker in the state with the law.
“As the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area continues to invest in health services and diversify its economy, these new job seekers will search for pay transparency,” Shah said. “Since health services are some of the top occupation groups with the highest level of pay transparency, job seekers will expect to see pay ranges in job postings.”
She added that pay transparency will eventually become the rule rather than the exception.
“Companies will have more and more incentives and motivation to share pay information, as job seekers and employees become accustomed to transparency,” Shah said. “In order to remain competitive, employers will need to adopt pay transparency.”
She argues that pay transparency benefits everyone beyond empowering employees to know their worth.
“It is a critical element in eliminating pay gaps and reaching equal pay for equal work,” Shah said. “The policy of pay transparency that states are putting into law allows job seekers and employees to better advocate for themselves, and it can begin to close the gender and race pay gaps as part of wider diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts.”
