Reports have shown that people say they are prepared to take a pay cut in order to continue working remotely.
However, some are admitting that the financial losses they would experience from these remote pay cuts may not be worth staying with their employer.
Mike, a senior software engineer at Google, moved to a new home during the pandemic like many. While he would prefer to continue working remotely, his pay cut would be equivalent to four years of pay increases.
“Any pay cut is unacceptable, and it’s been presented as a ‘take it or leave it’ proposition,” said Mike. “Google is telling us to vote with our feet if we don’t like the situation. I love the work we do, but that’s a lousy bargain.”
While the Delta variant has pushed back Google’s return-to-office plans, Mike says some colleagues have already experienced a pay decrease despite the whole company continuing to work remotely.
Mike is still waiting to see if Google changes this policy, citing the fact that Google has walked back on pay-related decisions in the past.
Google employees have expressed the feeling that a pay cut is unfair for remote workers, especially when faced with the fact that household bills could increase. However, the logic many leaders abide by is that employees will save money from the lack of commute and living in a lower cost area.
“If you feel like you’re being treated poorly by your employer, it’s just human nature to not work as hard,” said Brian Kropp, chief of HR research at Gartner.
