08/11/2021

Why Lower Salaries for Remote Workers is Wrong

Paying remote workers less than in-person workers sets a bad precedent

In yet another sign that even the most futuristic companies can’t find their butts from their earholes, Google (as well as Twitter and Facebook) are planning to cut pay to those working remotely, lowering salaries based on how far from the office you live. Reuters reported that one employee, working from a county outside of Seattle, would see a 10 percent pay cut if they chose to work remotely, and someone would get a cut as high as 25 percent if they lived in Lake Tahoe. Specifically, those who choose to work remotely but live near the office wouldn’t see a pay cut, despite not going into the office.

It all feels so arbitrary - Google justifies it as based on some sort of algorithm involving census bureau information, but somehow the company that literally indexes the entire Internet can’t come up with a calculator or matrix that spits out the answer “we should just pay people the same amount.”

The entire reason that companies pay different amounts based on people living in different places is because of the flimsy justification that the cost of living was lower, and thus pay would “match the local rates.” This may make sense for a local business selling to locals, but it doesn’t make sense if someone is doing work on the computer - and it definitely doesn’t make sense when you’re deciding to pay someone less money to do exactly the same work. Yet the largest and richest companies in the world are nakedly punishing those who want to work from home, and sending a message to those who might join later - if you don’t come to the office, you’re worth less to us.

Please select this link to read the complete blog post from Where's Your Ed At.