Croatia is required to introduce salary transparency in job advertisements by 7 June under a new European Union directive, marking a significant shift in how employers present pay information to prospective candidates, HRT has reported.

The new rules aim to end the long-standing practice of withholding salary details in job listings, a practice that remains widespread across the country.

“Salary by Agreement” Still the Norm

Around 80 percent of Croatian companies currently advertise positions with the phrase “salary by agreement”, leaving applicants without clear information about earnings before entering the recruitment process.

In many cases, candidates are required to complete multiple interview rounds, sometimes four, over a period of up to two months, only to discover that the offered salary is around €1,100.

At the same time, some employers advertise minimum wage roles while seeking “motivated and ambitious candidates” with at least five years of experience and knowledge of two foreign languages.

Such mismatches between expectations and compensation have increasingly drawn criticism, particularly from younger generations entering the labour market.

More young people are choosing not to apply for positions that lack transparency. Beyond simply earning enough to cover monthly living costs, many now prioritise long-term sustainability and honesty from employers.

Candidates are increasingly reluctant to engage in recruitment processes where key information, particularly salary, is only disclosed in later stages, if at all. The perception that some employers seek workers willing to accept minimum pay for maximum commitment has contributed to growing frustration.

Labour Market Imbalance

The debate comes at a time of striking labour market imbalance.

According to the Croatian Employment Service, there are currently around 86,000 unemployed people registered. At the same time, more than 65,000 seasonal workers are being sought for the upcoming tourist season.

Despite high demand, job advertisements rarely state precise salary figures. Instead, listings frequently refer to “competitive earnings”, provided accommodation, or the possibility of permanent employment. In practice, this often means that crucial details are revealed only later in the process, if candidates reach that stage.

In some cases, advertisements contain neither salary information nor details about accommodation, stating only that selected candidates will be contacted. For many young jobseekers, such an approach reinforces a perception of opacity and discourages applications.

In many Western European countries, clear and transparent working conditions have become standard practice. In Croatia, however, salary secrecy often extends beyond recruitment, with employees themselves sometimes unaware of colleagues’ earnings.

There have been instances where two employees in the same role, with identical qualifications and experience, receive salaries differing by as much as 100 percent. Such disparities raise questions about fairness, legality and the overall integrity of remuneration systems.

Recruitment processes are also frequently criticised for being outdated, lengthy and lacking basic information such as salary levels and working hours. In some cases, legally guaranteed rights are presented as additional benefits rather than standard entitlements.

In this environment, it is perhaps unsurprising that members of Generation Z reportedly remain in a job for an average of around one year. Employers, meanwhile, continue to express concerns about difficulties in attracting and retaining young talent.

The upcoming implementation of the EU pay transparency directive is intended to address some of these structural issues by ensuring that salary information is available from the outset.

The key question remains whether the directive will bring meaningful change to Croatia’s labour market or whether existing practices will simply adapt to preserve employer flexibility.

With the 7 June deadline approaching, employers across the country face a significant adjustment. For jobseekers, particularly younger generations, the reform may represent a long-awaited step towards greater fairness, transparency and trust in the workplace.