Survey Reveals European Salary Negotiation Trends: Men Aim Higher, Women More Cautious

Alma Career, the market leader with operations in multiple countries across Central and Eastern, recently conducted an international survey on salary negotiation, uncovering intriguing insights into the attitudes of over 24,000 participants across nine countries (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia). 

During the last job change, most respondents (two-thirds) in the survey sought a higher salary than they had in their previous job. Every fourth respondent (on average 28%) sought the same salary, while a smaller portion of respondents (one in ten) even sought a lower salary than they had in their previous job. 

Respondents in higher salary brackets are more likely to seek a higher salary during negotiations and are less likely to accept the same or a lower salary. Three out of four respondents with salaries in the top 10% sought a higher salary than their previous one during job interviews; one-fifth (18%) sought the same salary, while only 6% sought a lower salary than they had in their previous job. 

On the other hand, nearly half of the respondents with salaries in the bottom 10% sought a higher salary (46%) or the same salary (44%) as they had before, while 11% sought an even lower salary than they had in their previous job. 

In addition to being more likely to seek a higher salary, men, on average, also ask for a larger increase. Among respondents who sought a higher salary, one in three men (34%) on average asked for a 20% higher salary than they had in their previous job, while one in four women (23%) did the same. A slight increase, up to 10%, was sought by 39% of men and half of the women (51%). 

Respondents with high salaries generally seek larger increases when transitioning to a new job. Among those who asked for a higher salary during job interviews, nearly half (41%) of respondents in the highest salary bracket asked for more than a 20% increase compared to their previous jobs. Accordingly, the smallest portion of these respondents (30%) asked for just a 10% increase. 

Respondents with low salaries generally seek smaller increases when transitioning to a new job. Among those who asked for a higher salary and belong to the lowest salary bracket (bottom 10%), the majority (60%) asked for just a 10% increase compared to their previous job. One-fifth (18%) asked for a salary more than 20% higher than their previous job. 

The most important and common reason for seeking a higher salary is sufficient experience and self-respect (41%). Inflation was cited as a factor by 29% of respondents, while a quarter (25%) mentioned that they sought a higher salary because they were moving to a higher position. 

Although the reasons for seeking a higher salary are similar regardless of the region respondents come from, moving to a higher position is a slightly more common reason for respondents from the Baltics, as is inflation. On the other hand, respondents from Southeastern Europe are somewhat more likely to seek a higher salary due to increased experience and knowledge. 

The two main reasons respondents seek a lower salary are a change in the field of work (24%) and the fact that the lower salary was specified in the job advertisement. The third most common reason, cited by one-fifth of those who indicated they sought a lower salary, is that they had a relatively high salary in their previous job, which was not realistic to expect in the new job. Nearly one-fifth of respondents (18%) admitted that they did not care about the salary amount, so they accepted a lower one, while 17% needed a job quickly and did not set conditions. 

Men and women have somewhat different reasons for seeking or accepting a lower salary. For women, the primary reasons are that the salary was specified in the job advertisement (27%) and a change in the field of work (26%). For men, the top two reasons are a change in the field of work (23%) and having had a high salary in their previous job (22%). This is also the biggest difference between men and women; men are more likely than women to accept a lower salary because they had a high salary in their previous job, which is unrealistic to expect again. 

The main reason respondents’ salaries remain the same when transitioning to a new job is that they accepted the salary stated in the job advertisement (43%). Nearly one-fifth of respondents (18%) changed their field of work and did not seek a higher salary, and the same proportion (18%) were more focused on changing jobs rather than the salary amount. 

The issue of different pay for the same work between men and women is significant depending on whom you ask. Men generally do not see it as a problem, with nearly half (47%) believing it is not an issue at all, and another third (32%) considering it a problem, but not a major one. 

On the other hand, the majority of women see it as a significant problem (42%), while a third (34%) believe it is a problem, but not a major one. Only 24% of women think it is not an issue at all. 

The issue of different pay for men and women is more pronounced (or at least perceived as such by respondents) in Central and Northern Europe than in Southeastern Europe. 

More than half of the women in Central Europe and the Baltics consider unequal pay a significant problem, while less than a third (31%) of women in Southeastern Europe share this view. In Southeastern Europe, a larger proportion of women (36%) than in other regions (13% and 15%, respectively) believe that unequal pay is not a problem at all. 

The difference is not only among women; men in Southeastern Europe are also more likely to consider it not a problem, and fewer of them than in other parts of Europe believe that unequal pay is a significant issue. 

The issue of different pay for men and women is seen as a problem to a greater extent by respondents with lower salaries. Those with the highest salaries are the most likely to consider it not a problem at all. 

Women, on average, have lower salaries than men, and they naturally perceive the issue of unequal pay as a significant problem to a greater extent. However, the difference in salaries cannot be entirely attributed to the different behaviors of men and women when changing jobs, as the differences in the extent to which they ask for higher salaries during job interviews are minimal.  

Although men and women equally seek higher salaries during job interviews, men are slightly more likely to ask for salaries more than 20% higher than their previous job, while women, on average, ask for salaries up to 10% higher than their previous job.  

The primary reasons respondents do not ask for higher salaries and accept lower salaries than they had are because they accept the salary stated in job advertisements. On the other hand, the motivations for seeking higher salaries are increased experience and knowledge, as well as inflation. 

About the survey

The survey was conducted during October and November 2024 in nine Alma Career countries: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia through Paylab, an international salary survey platform that collects information on the incomes and bonuses of employees in various positions.  

For further information, please contact:

Jozef Plško  

PR & Communications Director, Alma Career 

Email:  jozef.plsko@almacareer.com 

Tel: +421 918 477 174