Three years after the European Union approved the directive on pay transparency, most job listings in Europe still do not disclose how much they pay. Among the major European economies, the United Kingdom leads with 56% of listings presenting salary information, while Germany falls short of 12%. Portugal is not included in the sample analyzed by the Indeed Hiring Lab. The Netherlands come in second place with 48%, followed by France with 43%, Ireland with 39%, Italy with 36%, Spain with 17%, and Germany with 12%.
The European directive does not require the salary to appear in the listing, but rather that candidates receive this information before the interview. Some countries, such as Italy and Ireland, decided to go further and require the publication of salaries in job listings. Italy is one of the positive exceptions, having gone from approximately 20% at the beginning of 2025 to 36% in March 2026, in part due to legislative developments and the introduction of mechanisms on the Indeed platform that incentivize companies to include this information.
The difference is not just a matter of transparency. A survey conducted by Indeed and Censuswide among 6,011 workers and candidates in six European countries reveals that between 61% and 82% of respondents would be more likely to apply for a vacancy that presented a salary range, and between 64% and 83% believe that listings should include this information. Hourly-paid jobs tend to present more precise information than those paid monthly or annually, and even when information exists, most opt for salary ranges whose width varies significantly between countries.
The study concludes that changes in company behavior tend to happen mainly when concrete legal obligations come into force, and that the mere existence of the European directive does not appear to have been sufficient to significantly alter recruitment practices. Three years after its approval, and with the European transposition deadline approaching, most listings continue to leave out one of the most important pieces of information for job seekers outside the offer.
