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posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 27 2020, @04:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the working-my-way-back-to-you dept.

There's been some recent speculation about the effects working from home will have on various parts of the economy, particularly the commercial real estate market. If companies can figure out how to keep employees productive, coupled with the desire for some to relocate to more rural areas (and consequently, farther away from the office), it's possible some companies may reconsider continuing to carry all the overhead associated with having an office.

Which leads to the question: should remote workers accept a pay cut for working remotely?

A recent survey of 600 U.S. adults found 66 percent willing to take a pay cut for the flexibility of working remotely.

To what degree varied, however.

  • Fourteen percent would take a one to four percent cut;
  • Twenty-nine percent would take a five-to-14 percent cut;
  • Seventeen percent would take a 15-to-24 percent cut;
  • Seven percent would take a 25 percent or more cut;
  • Thirty-four percent would not take a lower salary for flexible remote work.

The survey, taken from July 5 through 7 from Fast, a start-up specializing in online checkout, found COVID-19 safety concerns part of the current appeal of remote working. Thirty-nine percent were less comfortable returning to their physical office compared to 30 days before. However, 65 percent preferred a workplace that gives employees the flexibility to choose where and when they work remotely.

[...] The concept of "localized compensation" or paying someone less for the same work because of where they live is being hotly debated in human resources circles. In May, Facebook drew some backlash after announcing that employees choosing to permanently work remotely will receive salary cuts if they move to less expensive areas.

Originally spotted on The Eponymous Pickle.


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  • (Score: 2) by bradley13 on Monday July 27 2020, @05:15AM (4 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Monday July 27 2020, @05:15AM (#1026974) Homepage Journal

    It's a "nationwide" survey, which makes it completely useless. Are you in Silicon Valley, earning 200k+, and you could continue your job from home after moving to Outer Bumfuck? Or are you already working in Flyover Country for a salary of maybe half what Silicon Valley pays? The first person might well take a pay cut and still earn more money. The second person, not so much.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @06:13AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @06:13AM (#1026985)

    And, what if you are in Zurich? Your Republican economic theory will be of no avail in the EU, or anywhere else, Heir Professor of Microsoft Excell!

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 27 2020, @01:17PM (2 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday July 27 2020, @01:17PM (#1027060)

    working in Flyover Country for a salary of maybe half what Silicon Valley pays?

    Half? Try again. Silicon valley pays $400K+ for the same skillset that employers in a small town near a big university refused to budge above $45K for. I accidentally stepped into that town with a startup at $115K, and everyone acknowledged that I was well worth the money, but also could never bring themselves to give me a raise - since they had all these other employees at $45K and down...

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    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Monday July 27 2020, @02:16PM (1 child)

      by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 27 2020, @02:16PM (#1027098) Journal

      I found myself in this situation early in my career. I moved to rural Virginia for a startup (60k/year) and when they exploded I couldn't find anything in the local job market for even half of that. It took me six months of looking for a job to realize it wasn't going to work. I moved back to a major metro and was working in two weeks.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 27 2020, @03:09PM

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday July 27 2020, @03:09PM (#1027124)

        The problem with the University town was that everybody was running on grant money. When it came to getting things that they wanted to happen, me at $115K was easily worth three of (most of) their $45K hires, but when it came to writing grants, my headcount of 1 couldn't bring in $115K of funding.

        The startup I moved to town for didn't die, but it moved to Ohio (no thanks), I found three other employers and they all "paid my rate" but none of them lasted even 3 years. During one of my searches, I bumped into a manager when I was dropping off a resume cold call style - he gave me an interview on the spot, after a few minutes he said "o.k. you can stop, I want you here, but I have to ask: what was your salary?" I told him, he nodded, "yeah, I thought so... that's twice what I make, and I'm the highest paid guy here... there's just no way I can hire you for anything near that."

        Another thing I ran into was these sweatshops that had an average of 3 month turnover didn't even want to hire me at their lower rates... I think they're used to "a certain type of employee" and don't like the idea of somebody different coming through.

        I started my career in Miami at an unusual startup, that job ran for 12 years, and when it imploded I searched for work ANYWHERE in Florida for 4 months, nothing. Opened the search nationwide and had my new position (in Houston) within 2 weeks. This was post-911, all of Florida was suffering financially, especially my industry - but... the Bush's backyard was still booming, go figure.

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