Dear Startup Leaders,

It's time for companies to be more open, honest and transparent when hiring. The big incumbent companies can’t or won’t change. You can. The time to act is now.

According to layoffs.fyi, in the tech sector alone, 593 companies have laid off over 170,000 people globally in 2023. This has already surpassed the figure of 164,441 in the whole of 2022. This unprecedented surge in unemployment has intensified the frustration that job seekers feel when faced with a lack of transparency in the hiring process and how a company operates.

The bridge of trust between employers and employees has been slowly eroding for years. Now it’s at breaking point. People are tired of guessing what the interview process is, how long it takes and when they’re going to hear back. Parents grow weary of the mystery surrounding maternity & paternity policies. And now more than ever, given the above numbers of layoffs, candidates are demanding more data around the financial security a company can offer them, particularly in the start-up world.

Lack of transparency in the hiring process isn’t only affecting trust with jobseekers but causing deep-rooted issues around retention for any hires that are initially successful. According to Leadership IQ, the large majority of new hires leave roles due not to lack of skill, but due to poor cultural alignment; as much as 89% in fact.

Lack of honesty, openness and transparency when hiring is leading to poor hiring decisions for both candidates and companies alike. We are often not aligned on expectations, culture, communication and all too often new hires are met with an entanglement of sneaky T&C’s lurking around the corner; benefits that don’t kick in until after probation, hybrid working which isn’t really hybrid working, commission structures with loophole after loophole.

The time to act is now. It's too late for larger incumbent corporates but for startups who are creating processes from the ground up never has there been a better time to be intentional about how you design your comp, culture and career development

In 2024 companies in the EU will have to operate under pay transparency laws. Similar laws are already in place in 8 states dating as far back as 2019. Companies will have to find their feet here before they know it, but for jobseekers this doesn’t go far enough.

The world is changing, talent is demanding more, and future generations will only add to that pressure. The time for transparency is now.

We call on companies to join the few who are pioneering transparency. Companies like Buffer (https://buffer.com/open) , Gitlab, August, Heights, Remote.com and Learnerbly. These are the companies who will win the war for talent in the long run.

Join them. Act now.