You're worth what you ask for, not what someone think it's worth. You'll get what you ask for more often than not.
People have worked remote before covid, without any salary adjustments.
HR has to set up these policies in place to make sure their salaries line up with local averages. However, it's up to the management to decide who will fill the positions and at what salary. They will make adjustments to make sure their top performers are compensated properly.
It's morale breaking to be reminded you're just a line item on a spreadsheet first and foremost. Especially in a tech organization of a non tech company.
It sucks but at least we have high relative salaries.
That being said, there is a substantive difference between being hired at a salary and suddenly having your salary cut. The former is why companies try to hide what everyone is paid; to avoid the lower paid workers from feeling screwed and advocating for more money. But having corporate come in and say “your labor is now worth 70% what it was before” creates unavoidable feelings of being valued less by the company, because that’s exactly what’s happening.
People have worked remote before covid, without any salary adjustments.
HR has to set up these policies in place to make sure their salaries line up with local averages. However, it's up to the management to decide who will fill the positions and at what salary. They will make adjustments to make sure their top performers are compensated properly.
Worst case scenario, move to another company.