Member-only story
Google is right to cut remote workers’ pay. The alternative is inequity and an overpaid nomadic class.
In the short term, cutting the pay of workers who relocate to cheaper cities is the right thing to do. (I’ve hired people on four continents.)
Google is the most recent tech employer to plan to potentially cut the pay of employees choosing to work 100% remotely.
Their compensation would be based on where they live, not the office they were once attached to. For those who choose to live in a cheaper area, it could mean a significant pay cut.
Others in tech such as Facebook, Twitter, or VMWare have announced similar plans. (At least some companies have said salaries could also be adjusted up.)
The gut reaction to such a move — and the tone of most of the coverage — is outrage. Greedy companies taking away from workers who’ve given their all during the pandemic and putting families and marginalized employees living in cheaper areas at a disadvantage.
What these analyses are lacking is a genuine understanding of how companies set compensation and why some of the world’s most generous employers, who have no interest in employee mutiny, came to the conclusion that docking remote workers’ pay was their best option.
