Why 2022 Is the Year of Pay Transparency

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Pay transparency's days as a taboo subject are numbered.

Openly sharing the salaries of employees could soon become the norm at companies big and small, as employers look to create more equitable workplaces where people in comparable roles are paid similar wages. 

That's according to LinkedIn's 2022 list of big ideas that could change the world, an annual feature sourced from CEOs, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders.

The trend has been embraced by companies such as Netflix and Whole Foods, as well as by lawmakers. The New York City Council now requires that employers in the Big Apple post salary ranges on job listings.

Here's why even broader adoption is expected this year:

• The momentum behind fighting gender and racial inequities will grow in 2022, Diane Domeyer, a managing director at human resources consultancy Robert Half, shared with LinkedIn. "Societal desire to close the wage gap for protected groups is what's really at the heart of it," Domeyer says.
  
  
• Companies that embrace pay transparency will likely have an easier time finding and retaining workers amid the Great Resignation and through the rest of the year. "Organizations have an advantage in being ahead of legislation and demonstrating to employees they're about equity and inclusion," says Domeyer.
  
  
• Transparency on salaries has reached a tipping point. With an increase in legislation prohibiting companies from discussing pay history with prospective employees during recruitment, salary transparency is likely to follow, according to Domeyer. "Without it, people will always feel they aren't being paid enough," she says.
  
  Anna Meyer is an associate editor at Inc.