EU salary transparency is one of the best news for developers

The EU salary transparency is one of the best news for developers in years. Although it may discomfort top performers.

Starting in 2026, companies in Europe will have to publish salary bands and stop hiding salaries behind “we'll see in the offer”.

And for most devs, this is a huge victory.

Because anyone who has looked for a job in Europe knows this: you go through 5 interviews, they ask for exercises, they talk about culture… and in the end, the salary doesn’t match at all.

You’ve wasted weeks on something that could have been said in 30 seconds.

With transparency: → you know if that role pays 45k or 75k → you know if you’re in or out of the market → you know if it’s worth continuing the process

That alone greatly improves the European market, which has historically been much more opaque than that of the U.S.

But now comes the uncomfortable part.

Yes, this measure also cuts the upside for outliers within the same company.

Before, a very good Senior could come in with another offer and earn 40–60% more than another Senior with the same title. That happened because no one saw anything.

With public bands, those differences become hard to justify within large companies.

The realistic outcome: → low salaries rise → extreme salaries moderate → bands narrow

That’s good for 80% of the market. And it forces the top 10% to play differently.

The good news

Big Tech isn’t going to stop paying for talent. They will just shift differentiation elsewhere: • levels (Staff, Principal, etc.) • equity • bonus • real scope

And this is where outliers can play to their advantage:

Even though within a company the bands narrow, between companies the differences are more visible than ever.

Now you can clearly see which companies pay at the high end of the market and focus your career there.

You no longer have to enter 10 processes to discover who really rewards your level.

You can go straight to those willing to pay more.

Transparency doesn’t eliminate the upside.

It shifts it from “I negotiated better” to “I chose better where to play”.

If you’re an outlier and want to learn how to position yourself in companies that pay at the high end of the bands, join a class where I explain how to move from Senior to roles that pay 2×–3×, even with these new rules.

Do this: 1. Like the post. 2. Add me as a contact. 3. Comment: “outlier”

When you do, I’ll send you the full class directly via message.