> But that's not gonna happen. They will most likely not get the same paycheck as their colleagues on the coasts. Mostly because the cost of living is much lower.

See, there's no logic to it once you unpack it. If the company is willing to pay $X for a given person in one location, they can obviously afford to pay $X to them in another location - they're not any worse for that, since they get the same productivity in return (quite possibly more, because less commute time == happier employees).

But yes, in practice, they will lower the pay - and then complain that they can't hire anyone in those locations...

Technically the truth. But they might not get the same productivity because the team you'd be joining would be in SF or wherever. If remote working were perfect and the norm then no problem.