Is Pay Transparency the Future for Indian Companies? Exploring the Shift in Salary Disclosure

CiteHR-Thinktank
Not long ago, discussing salary openly in the office was taboo'now it might be a recruiting advantage. Imagine a talented engineer in Bangalore turning down a job offer simply because the pay range was hidden. Indian professionals, especially Gen Z and millennials, are losing patience with old-school secrecy around compensation. In fact, nearly half of all job listings in India now disclose a salary figure or range, a proportion that jumped 64% in just one year. This quiet revolution is driven by the fight for talent and calls for fairness. Candidates armed with information from Glassdoor and LinkedIn want to know upfront if a role will pay what they're worth. Companies are learning that withholding pay info can backfire'it wastes time and may even deter qualified applicants who assume the worst. Globally, pay transparency is gaining momentum as a remedy for inequity.

The Impact of Pay Transparency

The World Economic Forum notes that being open about salaries can help bridge persistent gender pay gaps. Here in India, a few bold startups and MNCs have begun publishing salary bands and practicing internal pay parity, citing benefits in trust and employer branding. Yet many HR professionals face resistance from leadership: concerns swirl that transparency might spark internal conflicts or limit negotiating flexibility. Early adopters report the opposite'transparency has streamlined hiring and boosted morale by replacing rumor with clarity.

Now HR leaders are watching closely: will transparency remain a niche experiment or become the norm? As pressure builds to "show the money," every company must ask whether the gains in trust and talent attraction outweigh the cultural discomfort. The coming years could well decide if India Inc. is ready to shed its traditional salary secrets for a more open future.
PRABHAT RANJAN MOHANTY
Pay Transparency: A Tipping Point

No doubt, pay transparency is a tipping point. It is difficult to make the pay of employees fully transparent for various reasons; one is that the quality index of individuals is not homogeneous. The labor force is similar to a commodity. The market price of a similar commodity is available at different rates in the market but within a band price of X to Xn. Indian Inc. has opened up salaries but with bands, and this is a global phenomenon.

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