[humbleferret]

There are probably multiple reasons for this. But here are a few that come to mind:

Nepotism - It would be naive of me to think there is no nepotism in hiring.

Hiring abroad can be a nightmare - Let's say the $50K employee is in another country. You now need to: A) Become familiar with the legal and tax implications of hiring someone from that country B) Establishing a company in that country in order to hire that person C) Finding out how to manage your new company in the new country. Paying taxes etc The reason employers of record services like https://deel.com/ have become so popular is because hiring that $50K employee will now probably take a lot of time and money.

Larger Talent Pool + Competition - The company still competes with other remote first companies that pay $200k for the same role. Therefore, simply paying less will cause candidates to seek out other companies that pay more. In addition, offering $200K to anyone anywhere in the world means that you have a LOT more applicants, which could allow you to choose the best when money is no object.