Featured in People Management
Recent research from Totaljobs’s Salary Trends Report 2026 shows that the majority of jobseekers now avoid roles that do not include salary information.
At first glance, this appears to be a communication issue. In reality, it points to something more fundamental about how organisations design and manage reward.
Executive coach and HR strategist Gemma Bullivant shared her perspective with People Management, highlighting that the reluctance to publish salaries is often rooted in structural challenges rather than messaging alone.
Why Organisations Still Avoid Publishing Salaries
Many organisations recognise that transparency matters, yet hesitation remains.
As Gemma explains:
“One of the main reasons organisations still avoid publishing salaries is not simply poor communication, but the absence of a clear job and reward architecture to support a more transparent approach.
Where grading structures, pay ranges or benchmarking are unclear, leaders often worry that publishing salaries will expose inconsistencies or create internal issues. As a result, silence can feel safer, even though it ultimately makes hiring harder – fewer people respond to job ads without pay ranges – and can damage trust with existing employees.”
This highlights a key tension. Transparency is often treated as a choice, when in reality it is a reflection of how robust an organisation’s reward framework is.
The Same Issue Exists Within Benefits
The challenge does not stop at salary, it often extends across the wider reward offer.
As Gemma notes:
“The same structural issue often sits behind why employees do not fully understand the benefits available to them. In most organisations the benefits package has evolved over time, with new elements added reactively rather than as part of a coherent reward strategy. When the overall offer is not clearly defined, communication becomes fragmented and employees struggle to see the full value of what is available.”
In many organisations, benefits have grown incrementally rather than strategically. The result is a fragmented employee value proposition that is difficult to communicate clearly or consistently.
2026 Pay Transparency Legislation
“The shift towards greater pay transparency, accelerated by upcoming EU legislation and the wider market expectation it will create, is likely to have a ripple effect in the UK.
This is only going in one direction; organisations will increasingly need clearer frameworks for pay, progression and benefits, not just better messaging, if they want to attract and retain top talent.”
As transparency becomes the norm, organisations will be required to move beyond surface-level communication improvements and address the underlying design of their reward strategies.
What This Means for Reward and Leadership
For HR and reward leaders, if publishing salaries feels risky, it may be a signal that the underlying structures need attention, such as;
- Job architecture
- Pay ranges and progression
- The overall benefits proposition
Transparency shapes trust, and trust underpins performance, engagement and retention.
Organisations that invest in clear, coherent reward frameworks will be better positioned not only to attract talent, but to build credibility with the people they already employ.
