[throwaway4715]

As far as I know, ALL big tech cos have paid differently based on where you live since forever. If you work for Google Pittsburgh you make less than Seattle/Bay/NYC, if you work for <FAANG> London office you make less than American hubs. I don't know why people are surprised that that applies to remote workers as well.

[waheoo]

Isnt it pretty obvious? People are under the illusion they are paid for the work they do.

They are not and never have been. They have always been paid what someone is willing to pay them for the work they do.

It's subtle but important distinction.

Salary is a function of demand and supply like any other price on an open market.

This is why its important to not think in terms of work when negotiating a salary. Instead you need to think in terms of cost to find someone to take your place.

If that cost is more than your salary, you can ask for more.

[amscanne]

> They are not and never have been. They have always been paid what someone is willing to pay them for the work they do.

“Willing” is the wrong word. People are paid based on what the company can get away with paying them, as long as it’s less than the amount that they are “willing” to pay (then they don’t get hired).

In other words, the labor market is more like a 2nd price auction than a 1st price. This is obvious when considering the “go get a competing offer and show it to your current employer who will match” strategy. You just changed the 2nd price!

[take_a_breath]

Yes, companies have an information advantage in labor economics. People need to stop treating it like an Econ 101 equation.

[waheoo]

But it is. Just because people are conditioned to avoid sharing information doesnt mean they cant break that norm and gain the advantage.

Unions are exactly that.

[take_a_breath]

This is like saying python is the same as COBOL because they are both computer languages. Unions are not something studied in Economics 101 as labor economics is its own field of study and typically isn’t covered until 300 or 400 level courses.

[waheoo]

Truth.

[xoxoy]

Published Cost of living calculators rarely reflect reality in my experience. I definitely don’t pay anything close to the average cost of living for a single person in San Francisco, for example.

Hard to tell whether you are getting a “fair” deal when cost of living is so different depending on your individual situation