AIBU to expect job adverts to include salary ranges upfront?

[Netcurtainnelly]

Do you agree that the salary range should be posted on every job hiring ad so that applicants' time is not wasted?

I’m looking around for my son at the moment , he’s in IT , if it says £40k upwards I will send him it, if it doesn’t mention I won’t ‘unless’ it’s via a recruiter - in which case he can come to the point without going to interview etc as they will have a good idea- he’s moving purely for salary progression this time as he’s very underpaid for what he does ( and in London too) and they are sticking to 3% rises despite doing well , so now he’s being paid around 20% less than what seems to be the going rate at lower end of scale - it is stupid not to be upfront and a waste of peoples time . At least print a range

Absolutely agree 110%

it’s underhanded of employers not to, studies show people quote low when asked without a given range.

True, you'll always get timewasters and dreamers - and probably also people who have been told that they need to apply for a certain number of jobs or face losing their UC; but they're much easier to discount instantly than all the 'nearly-rans' who are sort of in the ballpark-ish but not really in the frame for this role yet.

I don’t apply for jobs if the salary is not advertised

On the job description? No salary shouldn't be there. Do you put your salary expectations on your CV? Whilst talking to them? Yes

Job hunting at the minute and this is my biggest bugbear! It took three emails to HR of one local company to get them to finally disclose a salary band - after advertising it as ‘competitive’, turns out it was in fact minimum wage. I think it’s absolutely disgraceful behaviour.

I don’t think that’s the same. I would put salary expectations if I was publishing my CV widely and saying “does anyone have a job for me”.

How is minimum wage ‘competitive’? Who are they competing with? Illegal employers?

I went all the way to being offered a job before they told me the holidays were the legal minimum. I think it was 20 days and bank holidays. They said it was a global policy and they couldn’t change it. Which explained why they’d been recruiting unsuccessfully for 2 years as my industry average is about 10 more days a year than that. Straight no, obviously. Wasted everyone’s time all around.

It basically says, we want to get an appropriate candidate as cheaply as we can.

YABU.

On the grounds that that role is an instant "no" from me. If they don't have the courtesy and transparency to cite the salary then what else is wrong with them?

Re pp, I am fine with salary range (though 50-80k is really too broad IMHO. Wouldn't rule out applying though).

EU countries will be required to post salary ranges on job adverts from June this year, as part of the EU Pay Transparency directive.

Yes I think it works both ways. I'd do the same as you - and there are of course lots of employers who do put the salary on the JD. I'd bet money most people on here who wouldn't dream of putting their salary on their CV though, and would expect an employer to put what they were willing to pay

Isn't that the point at which they usually follow the spiel with an offer of about 40p above minimum wage?

I've literally never been asked this and I've been a civil servant for over 5 years

Especially as that tired old ‘don’t mention pay or holidays’ interview rule still seems to be floating around in 2026.

Especially when you’re asked to ‘state salary expectations’. 🙄

Why shouldn’t salary be on the job description?

What’s the point of not telling candidates the minimum?

It’s a waste of everyone’s time, if I’m currently earning £50k I only want to apply for a job earning more than that, if the salary isn’t discussed until I’ve already got an interview and it turns out they can only pay £40k we’ve all wasted our time.

Please put me in touch with the employers who want to pay over the odds for their staff.

I’ve been job hunting recently, it turns out my employer is a rather generous payer! However, they’ve made me redundant. I’ve applied for 3 jobs where I’ve been turned down a my salary is too high, no conversation or discussion.

ive actually taken a role at a substantial pay cut because I feel I will be happy, I can make a difference, work my way up and the hours and basis suit me.

The company were up front about salary happy to pay the top of band and really appreciate me bringing a high level of experience. I already feel valued.

transparency would be appreciated in job adverts!

I’ve also noticed in my industry, the job descriptions and expectations match what I’m doing now at half the salary!

It’s the candidates who need to put in the time and effort in to applying for a job, of course they need to have visibility of what they’re applying for.

Have you applied for many jobs recently? It’s so ridiculously time consuming, if the salary is too low I’d look elsewhere.

It’s not the same as staying your salary on your CV, because the company recruiting are the ones who know what budget they have to pay someone.

yes exactly - one should only expect a salary to be on a job description if one is prepared to put their salary on their CV and lots of people do not want to do that.

I applied for a role quite recently where it was ambiguous from the description as to the seniority level. Had it given a salary bracket that would have been much clearer and I wouldn't have bothered applying. Not putting a salary range must mean they have to sift through more candidates who are inappropriate for the role. Such a waste of everyone's time.

I’ve also noticed in my industry, the job descriptions and expectations match what I’m doing now at half the salary!

I found this too, even within the same industry salary levels were wildly different, so it’s not as easy as applying for a role with a specific title with the expectation of what it would pay, a lot of places are paying an absolute pittance for jobs with very senior sounding titles!

Putting a salary on a CV is irrelevant if the company doesn’t have the budget to pay that salary, or equally it allows them to sift them and pay the lowest they can get away with.

Very few jobs need just a CV to apply, they want questions answering and a starter writing etc - no point spending time doing those things if you know they want to pay lower.

I dont apply if they don't list the salary/range.