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by new_here 1955 days ago
The remote tech workers and manufacturing labourers compared in the article are both still subject to the same market forces.

Remuneration is the equilibrium of what a company is willing to buy at and what the worker is willing to sell at. A worker will want a higher price and a company will want a lower price. If they agree at an equilibrium then an employment contract is signed.

Manufacturers have leverage to lowball the salaries of workers because if a worker declines to sell their labour at a low price, then the company can likely find other sellers because there is a large supply of unskilled labour.

But if the supply of a specialised labourer is limited and the company really needs it, then the company has to consider more carefully if they want to pass on the deal or if they want to buy the labour at a higher price.

If Facebook now chooses to pay lower salaries based on the cost of living of a worker's location, then that is their risk to take as they'll open themselves up to more competition. It's up to the remote worker to decide if they want to sell their labour to Facebook at that price or if they're comfortable to decline and look at their other options, which depends on the demand for remote workers of their particular skill set.