The Experts’ Meeting – Pay Transparency: How to Turn It into an Opportunity?

Starting in June 2026, IT services and consulting companies will be required to comply with the European directive on pay transparency. While the topic may seem distant or purely regulatory, it is in fact one of the most structuring HR initiatives of the years to come.

For this 11th episode of The Experts’ Meeting, we wanted to take a step back from this reform: to understand what it really involves, to challenge some common misconceptions, and above all to explore how IT services and consulting companies can turn this obligation into a lever for attractiveness, performance, and retention.

To discuss this, we brought together two complementary perspectives:

• Virgile RAINGEARD, CEO at Figures, a specialist in compensation policies
• Héloïse LUTTON, CHRO at Zenika, an IT services and consulting company committed to equity and transparency

No time to watch the replay? In this article, we break down the key takeaways from this discussion.

Survey: what are your main obstacles?

Before starting this discussion, we asked participants what they saw as the main challenge of this directive:

• Risk of comparisons and internal tensions – 50%
• Internal and external communication of pay practices – 28%
• Complexity of adapting existing pay grids to ensure equity – 16%
• Awareness and training of managers – 3%
• I can’t answer yet because I don’t fully understand the directive – 3%

Why pay transparency becomes unavoidable in 2026

The European directive on pay transparency does not come out of nowhere. It aims to correct persistent imbalances, particularly unjustified pay gaps, by strengthening candidates’ and employees’ rights to information.

Unlike existing mechanisms such as the gender equality index, this directive is not limited to an obligation of results or annual reporting. It acts upstream, on recruitment practices, pay positioning, and internal communication.

Believing that “companies still have time” is a dangerous myth. 2026 may seem far away, but structuring a coherent, fair, and well-understood pay policy takes time—especially in organizations where salary history is heterogeneous, sometimes poorly documented, and highly dependent on individual negotiations.

Displaying narrow salary ranges from the hiring stage: a major cultural shift

The first major change introduced by the directive: indicating a salary range at the time of hiring, even before the interview.

For IT services and consulting companies, where salaries are often adjusted based on profile, daily rate, and market pressure, this point raises many concerns.

The challenge is not just legal—it is deeply cultural.

Displaying a salary range requires organizations to:

• Clarify positioning criteria (seniority, expertise, scope)
• Ensure consistency between external messaging and internal practices
• Reduce gaps resulting from uncontrolled individual negotiations

A compliant salary range is neither too wide (which would make it unattractive) nor artificially low. It must be realistic, narrow, and explicit. In other words, it must reflect a true pay policy, not a simple façade.

The right to pay information: a new balance of power… or trust

The second major aspect of the directive: employees will be able to request information on the average pay of people in equivalent roles, broken down by gender.

This often raises fears of internal tensions. However, as the speakers reminded us, pay gaps already exist. The directive does not create the problem—it makes it visible.

The real question becomes: are we able to explain our pay gaps?

To prepare for this, IT services and consulting companies must:

• Define clear job categories
• Document pay-setting criteria
• Identify unjustified gaps in advance… and correct them (the reform requires correcting gaps above 5%)

Transparency does not mean perfect equality, but the ability to be accountable. The burden of proof is therefore reversed: it is no longer up to the employee to prove discrimination, but up to the employer to justify that there is none.

Mandatory reporting: a revealer of HR maturity

For IT services and consulting companies with more than 250 employees, the directive also introduces reinforced reporting obligations on pay gaps.

This reporting is not just an administrative exercise. It acts as a mirror:

• Unstructured data reveals a fragile pay policy
• Unanticipated pay gaps lead to costly, reactive correction plans

Organizations that will be most comfortable with these obligations are those that have invested upstream in tools, job frameworks, and clear HR governance.

Where to start in practical terms?

A key message from the live session: you don’t need to redo everything at once.

The first step to take in 2025 is simple but fundamental: build a clear salary framework, even if it’s not perfect.
Many IT services and consulting companies don’t have a formal pay grid, or only implicit benchmarks. The goal is not to reach perfection immediately, but to:

• Set a clear framework
• Document existing practices
• Identify major inconsistencies

This work must be accompanied by progressive, educational, and transparent internal communication. It’s far better to explain the approach, acknowledge gaps, and announce an improvement plan than to leave room for interpretation and rumors.

Pay transparency is not just an HR topic: it concerns leadership, recruitment, and management as a whole. This project must be carried collectively.

Pay transparency and recruitment: an underestimated accelerator

In a tight recruitment market, pay transparency can seem like an additional constraint. In reality, it often acts as an accelerator.

When salary ranges are clear:

• Candidates position themselves more quickly
• Discussions gain in quality
• Processes become shorter and more efficient

Another often underestimated effect: when pay is no longer a permanent negotiation topic, recruitment can refocus on project fit, assignments, and values.

A key lever for more inclusive recruitment

The directive explicitly aims to reduce pay gaps, particularly between women and men. In tech and IT services and consulting companies, these gaps remain very real.

Pay transparency acts as a structural corrective:

• It limits the impact of negotiation bias
• It secures career paths
• It strengthens trust among underrepresented talent

Field feedback shared during the live session shows that in more mature organizations, transparency not only helps attract more women, but also retain them more effectively.

To go further, read our article: Pay transparency: a lever for equity and diversity in tech.

Margins, daily rates, and fear of “pushing salaries upward”

One of the most common concerns among executives: will pay transparency mechanically drive salaries up and erode margins?

The consensus from the live session is clear: this risk is often overstated.

Transparency doesn’t necessarily push salaries upward, but toward the right level. Above all, it forces better alignment between:

• Pay policy
• Business model
• Pricing strategy

For IT services and consulting companies, this means working closely on the link between salary, daily rates, client value, and market positioning. A demanding—but structuring—initiative.

Transparency and retention: an antidote to volatility

In a sector with high mobility, pay transparency can become a powerful retention lever.

An employee who understands:

• How they are positioned
• How they can progress
• On what criteria pay decisions are made

…is a more engaged, more confident employee, and less likely to leave “to try their luck elsewhere.”

This requires, however, that managers are properly trained. Their role is central: without pedagogy, transparency can create stress and misunderstanding. With the right tools and the right narrative, it becomes a driver of collective maturity.

Enduring the reform… or turning it into a competitive advantage

In conclusion, what will differentiate IT services and consulting companies in 2026 will not be their ability to tick regulatory boxes, but their stance on pay transparency.

Those who undergo the reform will see it as a costly constraint.
Those who anticipate it will turn it into an opportunity to:

• Attract better talent
• Recruit faster
• Retain employees more sustainably
• Professionalize their HR management

The key takeaway shared during the live session for 2025: 👉 Start now, even imperfectly.
Pay transparency is no longer just an HR project—it’s a strategic initiative in service of growth.