You’re worth it
Employers owe it to job candidates to ask about desired salaries
Every time you’re offered a job, your value is calculated. What is your past experience and current potential worth to your prospective employer? It’s a difficult equation to solve. Market forces and the demand for particular skillsets can change salaries year-on-year, and two people with the same job title can earn very different amounts depending on the sector they work in and their geographical location.
The bluntest tool in the salary negotiation box is the infamous question ‘What is your current salary?’ Its use is controversial – so much so that in the last few years, it’s been made illegal in several US states. Yet 47% of UK employers surveyed for the Young Women’s Trust in 2018 said that they ask it.
As Rachel Brazil mentions in her article on the gender pay gap, basing salary offers on what a candidate currently earns is one of many factors that contribute to the continuance of such disparities in earnings. Indeed, there’s some evidence that in those areas of the US that have outlawed asking about previous salaries, both gender and ethnicity pay gaps have decreased to some extent.