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I don't get why cost of living is factored at all. The biggest expense is typically housing. And if you bought the house, it means the biggest expense is... bu

I don't get why cost of living is factored at all. The biggest expense is typically housing. And if you bought the house, it means the biggest expense is... building equity into an asset you can sell afterward. Keep in mind the engineer who purchased a 2 million house in Palo Alto can sell it for two million, and then move to Ohio to a much cheaper house purchased in cash. The reverse isn't true. Now, let me tell you a little secret. These "official prevailing wage calculators" are all "corporate policy from HR" and aren't real. There are a lot of engineers that have special deals with their organizations and keep the same salary bands, no matter what HR says. Just make sure you are at a profit center.

jefftk 5y ago
> I don't get why cost of living is factored at all. It isn't. It's cost of labor, not cost of living. "How much do we have to pay you to keep you from switching to a plausible competitor." (Disclosure: I work for Google, speaking only for myself)
- UncleMeat 5y ago
  In most cases I agree, but in this case it is BS. There is no planet where the cost of labor in Raleigh-Durham is lower than in REMOTE-NC (or REMOTE-WY). Folks in REMOTE-NC didn't get their equity refreshes adjusted down. The people in Raleigh-Durham did. The Raleigh-Durham office pays less than literally every other location in the US. Also a Googler.
  - jefftk 5y ago
    I agree that this is broken, but that's an unrelated issue? Cost of living in Raleigh-Durham is also not lower than REMOTE-NC. Instead, the problem is inaccuracy in estimating cost of labor. That is, they are trying to base it on cost of labor and failing.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    If that is true, then google will have bet wrong, and will suffer from people quitting who found better opportunities and need to increase pay to entice others. If people do not quit, then Google’s bet was correct.
    - UncleMeat 5y ago
      It is true. People have been complaining about it for like six months. The rest of the people that have moved outside of the traditional site locations will have their equity refreshes slowly ratcheted down, but only the new Raleigh-Durham site had it brought down instantly. That said, europeans have been getting an even worse deal on compensation for years and years.
      - 908B64B197 5y ago
        > That said, europeans have been getting an even worse deal on compensation for years and years. They should simply go work for an European FANNG.

jefftk 5y ago

> I don't get why cost of living is factored at all. It isn't. It's cost of labor, not cost of living. "How much do we have to pay you to keep you from switching to a plausible competitor." (Disclosure: I work for Google, speaking only for myself)

UncleMeat 5y ago
In most cases I agree, but in this case it is BS. There is no planet where the cost of labor in Raleigh-Durham is lower than in REMOTE-NC (or REMOTE-WY). Folks in REMOTE-NC didn't get their equity refreshes adjusted down. The people in Raleigh-Durham did. The Raleigh-Durham office pays less than literally every other location in the US. Also a Googler.
- jefftk 5y ago
  I agree that this is broken, but that's an unrelated issue? Cost of living in Raleigh-Durham is also not lower than REMOTE-NC. Instead, the problem is inaccuracy in estimating cost of labor. That is, they are trying to base it on cost of labor and failing.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  If that is true, then google will have bet wrong, and will suffer from people quitting who found better opportunities and need to increase pay to entice others. If people do not quit, then Google’s bet was correct.
  - UncleMeat 5y ago
    It is true. People have been complaining about it for like six months. The rest of the people that have moved outside of the traditional site locations will have their equity refreshes slowly ratcheted down, but only the new Raleigh-Durham site had it brought down instantly. That said, europeans have been getting an even worse deal on compensation for years and years.
    - 908B64B197 5y ago
      > That said, europeans have been getting an even worse deal on compensation for years and years. They should simply go work for an European FANNG.