On November 12, 2026, Quantum Careers listed 255 quantum roles based in EU Member States, from 19 employers. Three of them, from two employers, published a salary range. The EU’s Pay Transparency Directive gives job applicants the right to information about the starting salary or its range, provided in a way that enables an informed negotiation, for example in the listing or before the interview. It also bars employers from asking about salary history. The deadline for writing it into national law was June 7, 2026. Most Member States missed it, but the national laws are now arriving, several of them from January 2027.
Quantum employers in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Finland, which account for most of those 255 roles, will have to change how they write listings and run interviews. The changes are small if they are planned now and awkward if they are made one listing at a time after the law takes effect.
This article summarizes the directive and the status of national laws as of November 2026. It is not legal advice. Employers should confirm their obligations under the national law that applies to each role.
What the directive requires at the hiring stage
Directive (EU) 2023/970 sets three requirements on recruitment in Article 5.
- Applicants have the right to receive the initial salary or its range for the position, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria. The information has to be given in a way that ensures an informed and transparent negotiation on pay, for example in a published vacancy notice, before the interview, or otherwise. Where a collective agreement applies, its relevant provisions have to be shared too.
- An employer may not ask applicants about their salary in current or previous jobs.
- Job vacancy notices and job titles must be gender-neutral. Recruitment processes must be non-discriminatory.
The directive also gives existing employees rights that affect how an employer sets ranges. Employers have to make the criteria behind salaries and progression available to their staff, although Member States may exempt employers with fewer than 50 workers from the progression part. Employees can ask for average salary levels, broken down by sex, for workers doing the same work or work of equal value. Employers with 100 or more workers will also report their gender pay gap on a fixed schedule.
| Employer size | First report due | Then |
|---|---|---|
| 250 or more workers | June 7, 2027 | Every year |
| 150 to 249 workers | June 7, 2027 | Every three years |
| 100 to 149 workers | June 7, 2031 | Every three years |
The pay-gap reports are calculated from actual pay. A published range can be used as evidence in an equal-pay claim, so employers need a defensible reason for every range they publish.
Where national law stands
The directive applies through national law, and each country is setting its own details and dates. The table covers the EU countries where quantum employers on Quantum Careers hire most, with status drawn from Ravio’s transposition tracker unless noted.
| Country | Quantum roles on Quantum Careers | Status as of autumn 2026 | Range in the advert itself? |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 136 | Draft bill; parliamentary vote expected in early 2027, with the regime envisaged from January 1, 2028 | Yes, under the draft |
| Germany | 43 | No draft bill; legislation expected in early 2027 at the earliest | Not specified |
| Netherlands | 41 | Draft published; the government still aims for January 1, 2027, though advisers expect it to slip | Not specified |
| Finland | 17 | Bill before parliament; planned to take effect January 1, 2027 | Not specified |
| Ireland | 7 | Ranges in adverts and the salary-history ban are in the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill; no draft of the wider Pay Transparency Bill published | Yes, under the bill |
| Denmark | 7 | Bill proposed; proposed start March 1, 2027 | Not specified |
| Hungary | 5 | No draft bill published by mid-2026 | Not specified |
| Spain | 4 | Partial draft Royal Decree published August 2026; hiring-stage rules left to a later law | Not in the draft |
| Italy | 1 | In force since June 7, 2026 | Yes |
Four countries had complete national laws in force by the June 2026 deadline: Italy, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Malta. Greece passed its law but deferred the substantive obligations to November 1, 2026. France’s draft and Italy’s law require the range in the advert itself. In those countries, a range disclosed only at interview stage is not enough.
What quantum employers should change now
Set ranges from criteria you can explain. The directive expects salary structures based on objective, gender-neutral criteria such as skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. Quantum-specific benchmark data can be limited, which makes this harder than usual. Most employers benchmark a quantum role against the nearest established one, such as RF engineering for control electronics or applied cryptography for post-quantum work. Our guide to quantum compensation explains how that benchmarking works. Write down which comparator and which data each range comes from.
Remove salary-history questions everywhere. Check application forms, applicant tracking system screening questions, recruiter scripts, and agency briefs. A question about current salary is often a default field nobody has looked at.
Check titles and listing language. Many French and German listings already add a marker to the title, such as “H/F”, “M/F”, or “m/f/d”. On the snapshot date, 58 of the 255 EU listings on Quantum Careers carried one. That count describes titles only. It does not measure legal compliance. The directive requires gender-neutral vacancy notices and job titles, and the national laws will set what that means in each language. Review the body of the listing as well as the title.
Publish the range in the listing. Countries differ on whether the range must appear in the advert or can wait until before the interview. Publishing it in the listing is a practical starting point under either rule. It is also the simplest rule for an employer hiring in several EU countries at once, and it filters out candidates whose expectations do not match the role. For a remote role open to candidates in several countries, check the requirements of each.
Prepare for questions from current staff. Once a range is public, current employees in similar roles will compare it with their own salary, and the directive gives them the right to ask. A range set without reference to existing salaries will produce those questions on the first day it is published.
What candidates can ask for
Candidates applying for roles in the EU can ask for the salary range before the interview, including in countries where the national law is not yet in force. Where the law is in force, the employer has to answer. Candidates can also decline to answer questions about their current salary.
Our guide to quantum compensation covers how to use a range in negotiation, and the salary snapshot shows what US quantum employers publish today. European listings on the Quantum Careers job board will show ranges as employers add them. Employers can list roles with a published range through Post a Job.
