Re:Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other off...
by danans on Thursday March 03, 2022 @11:26AM
(#30543039)
> (A) location-based pay is justified because of location-based cost of living
Cost of living doesn't justify location based pay. It happens to correlate, but if a company could offer you an less pay in a high COL area without you declining the offer, then they might. They could even move their entire operation to an area with 1/4 the labor rates, like the Philippines, but there are big reasons they don't.
> then is car-based pay justified
Car based pay doesn't exist AFAIK, so what's the point? Companies pay what they have to pay to hire/retain the employees they want. There are a myriad of factors affecting any labor market, including all sorts of day to day personal costs like housing and transportation, but those are distilled through the personal choice of the employee. The main input to what employers pay is what other employees pay - it's a feedback loop at an unstable local equilibrium.
That said, if a major company or three decided to move to globally uniform compensation (the same pay in Czechia as Chicago), well that would be an interesting experiment to watch, though I wouldn't want to work there.
Cost of living doesn't justify location based pay. It happens to correlate, but if a company could offer you an less pay in a high COL area without you declining the offer, then they might. They could even move their entire operation to an area with 1/4 the labor rates, like the Philippines, but there are big reasons they don't.
> then is car-based pay justified
Car based pay doesn't exist AFAIK, so what's the point? Companies pay what they have to pay to hire/retain the employees they want. There are a myriad of factors affecting any labor market, including all sorts of day to day personal costs like housing and transportation, but those are distilled through the personal choice of the employee. The main input to what employers pay is what other employees pay - it's a feedback loop at an unstable local equilibrium.
That said, if a major company or three decided to move to globally uniform compensation (the same pay in Czechia as Chicago), well that would be an interesting experiment to watch, though I wouldn't want to work there.