Zoomers have a bad rap when it comes to work ethic, especially if you ask a Boomer. But a recent study found that there's one key factor that will make young people completely pass up a job posting, and it's just plain smart business sense.
According to the Adobe survey of 1,000 recent U.S. graduates or post-secondary students, 85% of them would be less likely to apply for a position if the company doesn't list the salary in the job posting. "We've found that Gen Zers value transparency and are generally more open to having salary discussions than previous generations and are more likely to feel comfortable sharing their salary with their peers," said Vaishali Sabhahit, global head of university talent at Adobe, the company that conducted the survey, in a statement to Insider.
Knowing what the salary range is for a job before applying to it seems like a no-brainer to a lot of us, but considering the sad state of job listings, it's clearly not standard practice. "'Salary commensurate with education and experience,'" said one Redditor on r/Antiwork in a popular thread about this topic. "I freaking hate this line so much and most jobs in my academic sector say this."
"Not posting the range is the same thing as saying your pay sucks," said u/outerproduct, and it's hard to disagree with them. Why spend hours applying and interviewing for a job, only to get to the salary negotiations and find out that it wouldn't even cover your rent and utilities? It's a total waste of time, and infuriatingly, it's completely avoidable.
Some Redditors posited possible reasons why employers don't put salary ranges in the job listings. The company could be embarrassed by their wages, or they could be paying women, minorities, parents of young children, or older workers less than white men. Chances are, they don't want current employees to know that they're paying new hires more than them.
A number of Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Xers also chimed in saying they don't apply to jobs without salary ranges either. "I don't think it's limited to 'gen z-ers' more so anyone with common sense," said u/PyroCorvid.
"Maybe the reason Boomers and older workers don't understand this perspective and think this generation is 'entitled' is because in their day, there was no reason to have to post the salary or hourly rate because it was assumed that any job you could take would pay you a living wage?" speculated u/ImportanceOk2977. "Very likely," responded u/SuspiciousPebble. "Back then, a house cost 4-5 times their annual pay. Not 12."
No matter the reason companies have for omitting pay in a job listing, the consensus is that salary transparency is good for the workers as a whole, ensuring fair and equal wages. "There are a variety of reasons a business won't advertise what a job pays," said u/ShockingShorties."Not a single one of them is positive."
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