Are Location-based Salaries Fair?

As companies adopt more hybrid and remote arrangements, people have started moving away from expensive large cities. However, many of these policies are contingent upon workers taking a pay cut that accommodates the cost of living in their new city.

However, some may find this approach is unfair and indicates that they deserve to earn less simply based on their living arrangement.

For instance, Google recently introduced its Work Location Tool that allows employees to request office transfers or to apply for full-time remote working positions. Through this tool, employees also will see how their pay is adjusted depending on where they request to work from.

On the other hand, companies like Reddit and Zillow have allowed their employees to work from wherever they’d like and still make the same amount of money.

This method could likely help employees attract and retain their top talent, and open up a door of opportunities for workers in regions that do not offer appropriate jobs.

The only potential downside to this policy is the increased competition for candidates. Before geographic boundaries within the workforce came down, professionals only had to worry about competing with people in their region. Now, they will have to compete with applicants from all over the country.