We recently did a poll on LinkedIn asking our followers if salary transparency is present in their workplace. To keep it objective and unambiguous, we defined it as 1) Is salary open and public, and 2) do they feel safe discussing salary openly with their co-workers?
Unshockingly, of the 168 votes, 83% stated that there is no salary transparency. It led us to wonder: What affects salary transparency in workplaces?
We investigated if there’s a correlation between company sizes and how transparent they are with salary.
Using data from our tech job aggregator, we plotted a chart between the number of job postings that a company has posted in the past year (from 2021 Q2 to 2022 Q1 inclusive) and the percentage of their job postings that have salary details. We only consider companies with at least 15 job postings.
We assume there is a correlation between the number of job postings posted by a company and its size. We try our best to ensure that there is no duplication of identical job postings so that it does not affect our results much.
As the number of job postings a company increases, the less likely it is for them to include salary information in the job posting. Once the job postings count exceeds approximately 100, there is a sharp drop in the number of companies who show salary details in their job postings (or only in a small minority of job postings)
As opposed to larger tech companies where people already know about them (and want to apply to them either way), smaller and more unknown companies might share their salary packages upfront to attract job seekers.
P.S. We’ve built a salary estimation tool that increases the percentage of job postings with salary details by 5.4x (from 9.0% to 48.7%). We do this using salary details from job postings of similar specialisations and seniority from the same company. See if you can spot them in NodeFlair Jobs!
We’ve also discovered that as a role becomes more senior, it is more likely that it does not include salary details. The percentage of job postings with salary details is 12.67% for junior roles and drops sharply to 8.04% for mid-level positions. It steadily declines to 6.20% for senior positions, 5.26% for lead positions, 3.67% for principal positions and 1.90% for management positions.
The trend is because there are more factors at play when determining an experienced candidate’s salary:
It is also interesting to note that the percentage is only 4.82% for internship positions. We do not know the reasons for this, but we sure hope it is not a case of unpaid internships.
Once again, we turned to our LinkedIn followers* for another poll. When asked why they think companies do not include salary in the job listings, an overwhelming majority indicated that companies would like more negotiation power (46%), and they don’t pay well (36%). Only a small percentage said that the company did not have any ill intentions, like being afraid that competitors would use it to poach their staff (16%).
*The voters are mainly employees, with only a handful being owners or are currently in management roles.
At first, a company that omits salary details in job descriptions seems to shout a red flag. However, from speaking to founders, people in management positions and HR practitioners, these are not 100% true.
Some companies have expressed that they deliberately leave out salary from the job postings (even if they are paying well above the market rate). They wish to attract applicants interested in them for their mission and company culture.
As a company that recognizes the importance of salary transparency and has built an anonymous salary sharing platform verified by payslips and offer letters, we like to take this opportunity to highlight and give credits to companies who are doing their part for salary transparency. Using data from NodeFlair Jobs once again, we compiled a list of companies having salary details in at least 90% of their job postings.
Note: This is not a sponsored post - we do not receive any incentive (monetary or otherwise) from any companies.
1. Combuilder
Established in 1999, Combuilder is a strategic IT Builder with that focused on developing flight simulations systems for military level flight training. Working alongside defence and technology giants like Singapore Technologies and MINDEF, the company grew from strength to strength, evolving technical expertise and project management in real-time systems and large scale mission critical.
2. Saksoft
Saksoft is a Digital Transformation Solution provider. We help Modernize, Automate, and Manage your IT systems.
3. LITE-ON
Founded in 1975, LITE-ON embraces being “Best Partner in Opto-Electronic, Eco-Friendly and Intelligent Technologies” as its vision to focus on the development of optoelectronics and key electronic components, and strives to build up competitive edge through resource integration and optimized management.
Web Synergies is an IT Software Consulting, Application Development, Solutions and Services provider. With over 18 years of industry experience Web Synergies has provided services to a diverse industry players in a variety of sectors: E commerce, Electronics, Enterprise, Financial, Banking, Technology, Service, Non Profit, Lifestyle, Tourism Sector and Government Agencies.
Unizen Technologies are a global Embedded Tech-Product Engineering and Services company headquartered in Bangalore, India with a team size of 100+ engineers. We are a next generation Product Engineering Services firm founded by industry veterans with a track record of delivering successful products for leading multinational companies.
OPUS IT Services Pte Ltd is a leading IT services and solutions company in Singapore. OPUS focuses on 3 core business service offerings namely, Enterprise IT Support Outsourcing & Resourcing, Customer Support Centre Outsourcing and Enterprise Integration Solutions.
7. WizVision
Established in Year 2000, WizVision is an established Information Communications Technologies (ICT) System provider based in Singapore. Its core capabilities lie in its design, development as well as maintenance of turnkey enterprise class software applications for both the public as well as the private sector.
8. Websparks
Websparks is an award winning web solutions agency with a mission - We are out to revolutionise the World Wide Web with our distinctive blend of web alchemy. Established in 2008, our team grew our expertise in website design and development, perfecting our skills and building a solid reputation and clientele, one project at a time.
9. Hubble
Hubble is a leading technology company focusing on construction and engineering industry. We are on a mission to build the world’s first autonomous construction sites by automating and trading the 4M (Man, Machine, Material, Money) resources.
10. Ufinity
Ufinity provides the industry's most innovative and integrated business Information Technology (IT) systems for Asia's leading enterprises, including large multinational groups, educational institutions and government ministries and agencies. We continue to be the driver of innovative solutions, delivering many industry's firsts with exceptional value.
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s most advanced video editing products, video converters, routers, color correctors, film restoration software and waveform monitors for the feature film, post production and broadcast industries.
12. DataSpark
DataSpark are leaders in processing large geospatial temporal mobility data to deliver intelligence on people and places using the highest data privacy standards. Understanding how people move, where they go, and what they do enables organisations to map their strategy around where people live work, and play.
12. Path Infotech
Path is a Technology Solutions Company, offering foundational, sustenance, and digital transformation services across multiple technologies to global businesses.
WPH Digital Pte Ltd, an ISO 9001:2015 company, is today a leading provider of innovation e-solutions that help organization leverage on the power and potential of internet technology to create new opportunities and achieve improved operational efficiencies.
Established in 2006, Apar Technologies is a global information technology consulting company. Headquarter in Singapore, Apar is spread across 8 countries namely, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, USA, Australia, MEA. Apar has development centers in Singapore and India (Bengaluru, Noida).
16. Microsec Capital
Microsec is focused to provide services in the arena of Investment banking, equity & Commodity Brokerage, Insurance Brokerage and Wealth Management. Our ability to provide integrated custom made solutions has helped us carve a niche for ourselves as we assist to create "Mega wealth through Micro focus"
17. FPT
In the last 13 years, FPT ASIA PACIFIC has been a trusted partner of over 300 businesses in Singapore (APAC Headquarter), Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, China (including Hongkong) and UAE. With the persistent effort to demonstrate our values to businesses through technologies, we have been delivering best-in-class IT/Digital Services & Solutions to our clients in the region, enabling their quests to IT & Digital Transformation.
Honourable Mention: Companies with salary in more than half the job postings
You can check out how much your fellow software engineers are actually getting paid on NodeFlair Salaries. It is a community-contributed salary data, verified with documents, such as payslips and offer letters. Within a few months since its launch, it already has the largest pool of verified and trustworthy tech salary data in Singapore.
