>why would someone earning 150k in sf should earn the same in Deroit?
Just replace Detroit with [Some other place] and replace SF with Detroit
You're not paid based on the value you create. You're paid as little as a company can get away with paying you.
If the same person relocates to Bermuda why is Reddit not giving them the same money they would give in the top tier US cities? Even better, Reddit will save even more money on them because they wont have to pay payroll taxes.
Or if an employee moves to Mexico City, or even Canada, why would their pay be adjusted down?
I don't know a single compagny that pay the same wage worldwide.
Basecamp.
According to the current status quo it is OK to discriminate remote workers, but that is not an inherent property of the system, just an implementation detail. People are pro/con whether they think they are benefiting from the current state of things.
Whether you work for Google from SF or Chicago makes no difference to the company as long as you are doing the same work. I'd argue that someone working for Google in the UK should also be paid the same.
Tax rates are very different in the UK and SF or Chicago. Level of social services provided to people is very different, nearly everything is different. I am not saying whether person should or should not be paid the same, but rather pointing out the fact that things are different between UK and SF/Chicago. Most of Google Engineers in the UK pay 40-45% income tax https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates
e: removed the fluff, see child post
You mean, you're from England. The other parts of the UK set their own taxes.
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/scottish-i...
That's not the case. Scotland is the only constituent country of the UK where powers to set income tax have been devolved. Income tax in Wales and Northern Ireland is still controlled by Westminster.
Also seen by some as the value of their houses rising, which they might welcome; and this only happens if there's some demand from other workers to work remotely from their area, which brings money into the area's service sectors. This could breathe new life into many parts of the country that are currently without any particular reason to go on existing.
I could see smaller townships deliberately incentivizing remote workers and designing things around them as a primary source of monetary influx.
This is already in progress and we'll get there before you know it.