You actually quoted that they are very open about their main reason for paying local rates: they want to be competitive as a business, and if for the same amoun

You actually quoted that they are very open about their main reason for paying local rates: they want to be competitive as a business, and if for the same amount of money they can hire more good employees, there is no reason not to do this:). > Your only job is to compensate people fairly for the role based on their abilities So it's about definition of fairness. You think it should be some universal measure regardless of location, they think it is a good market rate. And job markets in each country even after COVID are still different, that's why a "fair" amount differs across locations. One more important consideration here is local laws regarding taxation and employment. People in EU get less than in the US, but generally it is much more difficult and expensive to fire them as an example. Would it be fair if a person with employment-at-will contract who can be fired tomorrow with zero severance and has 14 days of vacation had the same salary as the person who has 30 days of paid vacation and minimum severance or notice period of 6 months?