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by sambrand 4091 days ago
WFH doesn't just pay off in productivity, it pays in compensation, too. Our latest survey shows that full-time remote devs get paid 40% more than never remote devs:

http://stackoverflow.com/research/developer-survey-2015#work...

There are probably a few reasons behind this phenomenon, not least of which is richer countries outsourcing to cheaper countries. But even in wealthier countries, remote devs get paid more.

No surprise then that more developers are working remote than ever before. This year 29% of devs told us they work at least part-time remote vs. 21% last year.

3 comments

> Our latest survey shows that full-time remote devs get paid 40% more than never remote devs

Anecdotally, I would suggest the demographic of employees who work remotely plays a part in this. In my experience, employers are more willing to let senior or "better" developers work remotely than less ambitious, less productive ones who need more day-to-day managing. Since quality developers (senior or otherwise) are generally paid more, I would presume this contributes to a higher average salary for remote workers.

Agreed. Not everybody is good candidate for WFH. There will be slackers, especially during non-busy times.
> Our latest survey shows that full-time remote devs get paid 40% more than never remote devs:

Does that prove that WFH pays off in compensation, or does it prove that only the most valuable devs (who could get the highest compensation whether they were on-premises or remote) can get full-time remote gigs?

You're confusing cause-and-effect here. If you're highly-paid, you're also highly-valued and your employer will be far more likely to let you have the latitude to work from home if you want to.