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Because not all jobs are remote, so local jobs make up for a considerable amount of the job pool. For this reason, it's easier to get another job at your curren

Because not all jobs are remote, so local jobs make up for a considerable amount of the job pool. For this reason, it's easier to get another job at your current location, so that's the competition the employer is faced with. If you live in an expensive area they're not paying you more to help you, they're paying you more to be more competitive with other companies in your area.

segmondy 10y ago
This line of argument is ridiculous. Are software companies pricing their computer programs based on location? Do folks in Ohio get to pay less than folks in New York? What if you hire a great remote developer who lives in San-Jose, then she moves to Kentucky 6 months later, and their contribution is still the same. Why should their pay be adjusted?
- fatal510 10y ago
  Because a huge factor of pay is cost of living. The only reason people in San Jose are getting paid so much is because they are in San Jose and could not survive otherwise. > Are software companies pricing their computer programs based on location? Do folks in Ohio get to pay less than folks in New York? Yes?
  - a_imho 10y ago
    I would like to repeat this comment here: This is the sentiment I usually see but how are one's expenses or expected living standard is relevant regarding compensation for work? Imo it is very hard to argue against equal work => equal pay. At least from a moral pov. Btw that is a lot of incorrect assumptions about expenses, including where someone's children might want to go to college, globally fixed costs like work equipment and cloud services, not to mention goods which are actually cheaper in the US.
  - stephenr 10y ago
    > Yes? Since when? I'm pretty sure I've never seen any variation in software prices except international variances, which are most often a case of with/without tax and currency fluctuations.
    - 59nadir 10y ago
      I think he simply read that as "Do they pay less (for living)?" and not that they pay less for software. No one could seriously think that you pay less for software based on your location, compared to other people in the same region/country.
      - stephenr 10y ago
        S/He quoted the whole thing: > > Are software companies pricing their computer programs based on location? Do folks in Ohio get to pay less than folks in New York? > Yes?
        storafrid 10y ago
        Yes, he did, unfortunately. Gasp. The humanity. Now get over it. You understand that he meant paying less for a flat, not for an OS. So stop pretending and go on with replying that you still think it's wrong to base the compensation on the location's living expenses, for whatever other new reason that you now need to come up with.
        stephenr 10y ago
        > You understand that he meant paying less for a flat No. If I understood that, I wouldn't have replied as I did, would I now? > go on with replying that you still think it's wrong to base the compensation on the location's living expenses But why is it a location's living expenses? If a company is paying people to work remotely, location should have zero impact on remuneration: they aren't asking you to live anywhere specific, so there is no business reason to use location as a cost factor.
paulddraper 10y ago
GitLab has made a big deal about working remotely; I thought that's what they did. https://about.gitlab.com/2015/04/08/the-remote-manifesto/ https://about.gitlab.com/2015/04/08/the-remote-manifesto/
stephenr 10y ago
> not all jobs are remote GitLab claims to be "Remote Only": https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/ https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/
- jobvandervoort 10y ago
  That's correct. We don't have any offices. You're free to work from home, a coworking space (by our expense) or anywhere else, but there's no GitLab office. We have a 'headquarters', which is also where Sytse (CEO) lives, where there are a number of desks available for special occasions, but no one is ever required to work from a particular place.
  - stephenr 10y ago
    So, to quote the original post that prompted the theory about "not all jobs are remote", which I then replied to: > Why does Location matter? Does it matter if have 10 kids, or a lease on a Porsche, or 2 alimonies, or live in a McMansion, or my kid has cancer? Are those factors relevant? What makes Location special?

segmondy 10y ago

This line of argument is ridiculous. Are software companies pricing their computer programs based on location? Do folks in Ohio get to pay less than folks in New York? What if you hire a great remote developer who lives in San-Jose, then she moves to Kentucky 6 months later, and their contribution is still the same. Why should their pay be adjusted?

fatal510 10y ago
Because a huge factor of pay is cost of living. The only reason people in San Jose are getting paid so much is because they are in San Jose and could not survive otherwise. > Are software companies pricing their computer programs based on location? Do folks in Ohio get to pay less than folks in New York? Yes?
- a_imho 10y ago
  I would like to repeat this comment here: This is the sentiment I usually see but how are one's expenses or expected living standard is relevant regarding compensation for work? Imo it is very hard to argue against equal work => equal pay. At least from a moral pov. Btw that is a lot of incorrect assumptions about expenses, including where someone's children might want to go to college, globally fixed costs like work equipment and cloud services, not to mention goods which are actually cheaper in the US.
- stephenr 10y ago
  > Yes? Since when? I'm pretty sure I've never seen any variation in software prices except international variances, which are most often a case of with/without tax and currency fluctuations.
  - 59nadir 10y ago
    I think he simply read that as "Do they pay less (for living)?" and not that they pay less for software. No one could seriously think that you pay less for software based on your location, compared to other people in the same region/country.
    - stephenr 10y ago
      S/He quoted the whole thing: > > Are software companies pricing their computer programs based on location? Do folks in Ohio get to pay less than folks in New York? > Yes?
      - storafrid 10y ago
        Yes, he did, unfortunately. Gasp. The humanity. Now get over it. You understand that he meant paying less for a flat, not for an OS. So stop pretending and go on with replying that you still think it's wrong to base the compensation on the location's living expenses, for whatever other new reason that you now need to come up with.
        stephenr 10y ago
        > You understand that he meant paying less for a flat No. If I understood that, I wouldn't have replied as I did, would I now? > go on with replying that you still think it's wrong to base the compensation on the location's living expenses But why is it a location's living expenses? If a company is paying people to work remotely, location should have zero impact on remuneration: they aren't asking you to live anywhere specific, so there is no business reason to use location as a cost factor.

paulddraper 10y ago

GitLab has made a big deal about working remotely; I thought that's what they did. https://about.gitlab.com/2015/04/08/the-remote-manifesto/ https://about.gitlab.com/2015/04/08/the-remote-manifesto/

stephenr 10y ago

> not all jobs are remote GitLab claims to be "Remote Only": https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/ https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/

jobvandervoort 10y ago
That's correct. We don't have any offices. You're free to work from home, a coworking space (by our expense) or anywhere else, but there's no GitLab office. We have a 'headquarters', which is also where Sytse (CEO) lives, where there are a number of desks available for special occasions, but no one is ever required to work from a particular place.
- stephenr 10y ago
  So, to quote the original post that prompted the theory about "not all jobs are remote", which I then replied to: > Why does Location matter? Does it matter if have 10 kids, or a lease on a Porsche, or 2 alimonies, or live in a McMansion, or my kid has cancer? Are those factors relevant? What makes Location special?