> Large COL adjustments make no sense to me. So I work for a remote company and choose to live somewhere cheaper and they think that the value I'm providing is

> Large COL adjustments make no sense to me. So I work for a remote company and choose to live somewhere cheaper and they think that the value I'm providing is less? The end result of this is that remote devs get screwed on average, while the best remote devs avoid companies like this, rightfully so. Well, that depends where the company is headquartered and how much the local employees make. Let's say the company is headquartered in SF, and the local employees make an SF-typical salary. If the company pays all remote employees what they pay their local employees, then that's a very nice deal for remote employees in low COL areas. If the company uses COL adjustments for remote employees, then employees located in lower COL areas take a pay cut, and your argument holds. But imagine if the company was instead located in a low COL area like Phoenix and the local employees make a Phoenix-typical salary. If the company is paying all remote employees what they pay their local employees, then remote employees in high COL areas won't make enough money to live on. So in this case, using COL adjustments for remote employees is the only way for it to be worth it for people in high COL areas to consider working for them.