Report Questions Mill Valley-Based Glassdoor’s Salary Estimates

MILL VALLEY, CA — A newly published report is questioning the value of Mill Valley-based Glassdoor’s salary estimates.

The crowd-sourced job website’s use of an honor system for employees reporting wages and AI algorithms produces results that may not be giving job seekers accurate salary assessments, Lifehacker reports.

“There are other tools out there, and just because they don’t have the sleek interface of a well-funded tech site doesn’t mean they’re not worth your time,” the report said.

Fluctuating salaries due to inflation, regional cost-of-living considerations are among other factors the report cites for its recommendation that Glassdoor users shouldn’t take the company’s published salary estimates as Gospel.

Glassdoor does accurately represents its calculations as estimates, the report notes.

“Glassdoor also wants to remind you that salary estimates are estimates,” the company writes in its FAQ section.

“They do not represent guarantees of actual salaries and they are not necessarily endorsed by the employers.

“The purpose of salary estimates is to use predictive data science to provide job seekers a likely salary range so they can make more informed job decisions, and help employers recruit informed and quality candidates. For this reason, Glassdoor does not guarantee the accuracy of estimates.”

Glassdoor has gleaned from surveys that today’s jobseekers demand more information around pay, the company said in a statement to Patch.

The company's statement said its salary estimates provide transparency and promote equity.

“By providing more information and transparency into pay, we help ensure equal pay for equal work and give people greater access to pay information that was previously not shared by employers,” the statement said.

Glassdoor didn’t specifically address a question from Patch on whether the company disputes the assertion presented in the Lifehacker that its published salary estimates are dubious, but said it does offer jobseekers value.

“Glassdoor provides a range of salary information, including salary reports from employees, salary estimates based on our proprietary predictive algorithms, and pay ranges for open jobs,” the company said.

“We take the integrity of our data seriously, and are proud that job seekers and employees turn to Glassdoor as a trusted and sought-after source for job and workplace information.

“More information is always accessible on our Help Center on the reliability of our estimated salaries and provides confidence levels on our salary pages to help people interpret the pay data. Employers and employees can contact Glassdoor if they believe a salary report or salary range is inaccurate.”