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Discussion on: Why (I think) "Cost of Living" pay for remote workers is BS.

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Nicolas Bousquet

Globally you have to pay people enough so they accept to work for you as they are not slaves. If they ask more than you can afford, you do without it.

In computer science basically there more demand for workers than there workers available. So they'll not work for you if it isn't interesting for them. Standard workers will not move to work in a given area if you don't pay them enough for that, they have no reason to move and get reduced quality of life. And workers in that area will not accept to work remotely for you if you pay them significantly less than if they work at an office in their area. That's logical.

Maybe you don't like it, but your arguments on diversity and all do not apply. Again there so much demand that everybody is welcome. Want to get the wage of a worker in the bay area. Well relocate there, get the big salary and enjoy. You can do it, your set of skills is your lift to greater condition.

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Sam Ferree

Want to get the wage of a worker in the bay area. Well relocate there, get the big salary and enjoy.

"Just move to X place" glosses over so many hurdles, many of them legal, some of them insurmountable.

As I've stated earlier, I have no problem with private, consensual salary negotiations that result in unequal play. That's just a consequence of the free market. My point is that I think it's a shit policy to explicitly state "Normally your skills are worth $X to us, and that's what we pay our engineers in the Bay area, who get to enjoy all the wonderful things that the bay area has to offer. But we noticed that you live next to poor people, for reasons we honestly don't care about, and we want to make sure you fit in with your neighbors... because of fairness"

"Equal Pay" is a cop out and BS Excuse. Companies are trying to save a buck and should just admit it.

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Nicolas Bousquet

"Just move to X place" glosses over so many hurdles, many of them legal, some of them insurmountable.

More than half the people working for my employer are foreigners. Either hired directly or sometime in another country and then relocated. My employer need lot of people. This year only 500-600 persons are expected to be hired. if you got the diploma/skills and you manage the interview you can work for them: India, France, England, US, Thailand, Australia and many other countries. Your choice.

A friend of mine was selected by facebook, they couldn't regularize him that year for US, so they got him a job for 1 year in Japan and them bring him back to US.

I know an old woman that decided to go to europe illegally she even left her son that join her back long after. Now she is in Italy legally and her son thank to lot of work opened shops, work a lot and now they are quite wealthy.

I tend to think, that when you want it, you can do it. Work even localy for an employer that would accept internal move later. Or go to a country that want lot of people, get the nationality then move again. Lot of things are possible.

Sure some situations are worse than others, but with enough motivation, a lot is possible.

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Sam Ferree • Edited

I tend to think, that when you want it, you can do it. Work even localy for an employer that would accept internal move later. Or go to a country that want lot of people, get the nationality then move again. Lot of things are possible.

I agree with all of this, but my OP is about what a good company should do, not what we should legally force all companies to do. (Although I maintain that a clever civil rights attorney could make a solid argument for it, so HR beware...)

If you force your employees to make these kinds of hard choices, but then parade yourself under this banner of "We're a super fair company that cares about how we treat our employees" I can and will call B.S.

You're doing it to save money, so just be honest about it.