I’m an executive recruiter. Pay transparency will draw women workers back to Md.

Since the pandemic, an estimated 181,000 Marylanders have dropped out of the workforce and have not come back. Most of those Marylanders are prime-age workers, especially women. But a pay transparency bill being considered by the state legislature (Senate Bill 525/House Bill 649 requiring employers to list pay ranges on job postings) could be one of the keys to enticing these women back. Polling in late December from the National Women’s Law Center/Morning Consult showed that 53% of Marylanders have refrained from applying to a job opening because it did not list a pay range.