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1/x The coming fight over remote tech worker pay: a rambling thread.
caveats: focused within the US (international is a different beast), and jobs that can be done fully remote. Not all can, or are well suited to be done so. Some consistently say we want you in office. No prob
caveats: focused within the US (international is a different beast), and jobs that can be done fully remote. Not all can, or are well suited to be done so. Some consistently say we want you in office. No prob
2/x But growing numbers of companies straddling a middle ground and I've had a few conversations, some of them uncomfortable, with folks about remote worker pay.
To start with I'd say its fairly obvious that a lot more tech work can be fully remote than folks used to admit.
To start with I'd say its fairly obvious that a lot more tech work can be fully remote than folks used to admit.
3/x working remotely takes different management techniques, and different workers and resources. And that's okay and to be expected. Not for everyone or every org.
4/x Where I'm starting to go "Hold on" is watching an organization start hiring remotely who traditionally demanded "in-office" in a major metro area like the bay area or Seattle, often for the exact positions they were recruiting *in those areas for* and offering lower pay.
5/x the typical response is "Well, the cost of living is different". And yes. It is.
But here's what sticks in my craw. These organizations were willing to spend significantly *more* for a worker there and their office space. But the same work, elsewhere will be paid less.
But here's what sticks in my craw. These organizations were willing to spend significantly *more* for a worker there and their office space. But the same work, elsewhere will be paid less.
6/x If you want to argue that the remote worker inherently provides less value or costs more (possible, but tough to argue) you've got a hell of a battle. If its that expensive/difficult to the organization to have a worker elsewhere then why are you entertaining remote work?
7/x the hell of it is, paying remote workers as well would be an incredible boon to the diversity and economies of a huge range of places. Literally "spreading the wealth". Suddenly you can have a well paid tech worker in bumbelch nebrahoma bringing in income, taxes, and spending
8/x You also would open up a new talent pool, decongest and lower housing prices in housing crunch areas, reduce aggressive gentrification by bringing in ever more high-paid tech workers to displace the original folks...
9/9 tl;dr; Remote work growth could be a boon to many areas. And If an organization insists on paying remote workers less than flagship locations for the same work/job they only recently demanded be in-office, they've got some work to explain how its anything beyond lazy greed.
