Did you read the Fortune article published on August 29th with the title of “Employers have had enough and are starting to cut salary offers by as much as 47%, according to analysis of 20,000 job postings?”
I read it. I don’t like articles like this, because it creates the perception that wages are decreasing across all industries, locations, and employers.
Are they really?
The article title is meant to get you to click. And then the article itself is meant to get you to feel a certain way.
“ZipRecuiter…analyzed year-over-year changes in pay posted for more than 20,000 online job ads. …it found that the average posted pay for more job titles declined more than increases so far this year. Last year, the opposite was true: Three-quarters of job posts offered higher pay compared to 2021.”
I have questions. Lots and lots of questions.
· Was the comparison to last year’s data a true “apples to apples” comparison?
· Were the same companies in the data from last year versus this year? No.
· Are the industries the same? We’ve had lots of tech firms doing layoffs in 2023. They were hiring talent last year. What industries are hiring this year?
· Are the jobs the same? Could 2023 be a year where lower paid jobs are being posted more often than last year?
· Beginning January 1, 2023, California employers with 15 or more employees began disclosing a job’s pay scale in their job postings. That didn’t happen last year.
· Have companies changed their pay philosophy from last year to this year? Have they changed what percentile in the market they are targeting?
· Are companies posting a subset of their base salary ranges this year versus the full base salary range last year?
· Are 20,000 job postings a big number? In the U.S. we have 9.58M job openings and 5.96M unemployed workers. There are still more than 1.6 unfilled jobs for every job seeker. There isn’t a balance between supply and demand.
Be skeptical. Be cautious. Use your critical thinking skills.
We have a tight labor market.
Don’t believe everything you read.
Yes, if you are looking for a new job it is taking longer than last year. Yes, there are some industries that are hiring more than others.
Is pay declining for some jobs? Yes. Is it increasing for some jobs? Yes.
Employers need to do their competitive compensation benchmarking to determine where they need to spend money and where they do not.
Aggregate analysis and general statements don’t tell the full story.
Make sure you are using more than one reliable and valid data source when you are determining your recommendations related to pay.
I’ll get off my soapbox now.
#pay #compensation #wages #rewards #hr #humanresources #joboffers #negotiation #paytransparency #payequity #statistics