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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: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 27 2020, @01:01PM (3 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday July 27 2020, @01:01PM (#1027045)

    It's unimaginable to me you think that shareholders and CEOs are enemies of any kind.

    That depends entirely upon the corporation... smallish struggling companies (say: less than $1B in annual revenues) make all sorts of Faustian bargains to gain access to larger markets. Often, a smallish company will accept a CEO who might open doors for them - paying a high price for the chance to grow. As these relationships grow, they grow ever more adversarial between the shareholders who no longer benefit from the CEO's connections and the CEO who is milking the relationship for as much personal gain as possible before hitting the golden parachute. The CEO will pack the board and C-level executive offices with allies to extend the ride on the gravy train, this cadre of parasites usually leaves the company reeling for years after they finally exit and the shareholders - well aware of the poison pills - accept the bitter relationship for fear of collapse on the parasites' exit.

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @01:49PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2020, @01:49PM (#1027078)

    Not just CEOs, this sounds exactly like a couple of places I worked. There's a honeymoon period at the beginning where you're getting fucked and enjoy being the most productive guy on the team, then you realize nobody is doing anything for you in return. Now you're just being fucked.

    You enter the mid-stage where you "get" why everyone is so unproductive and nobody talks to eachother. You find the chirpy new hires are _the_ most annoying people as they remind you of your hopes when you started this shit job.

    It's misery - this can last for the rest of your career if you choose. Or you can use the experience to feel very precisely exactly it is that causes that misery and work around it in the future. Work in progress - e.g. how to pick out an abusive narcissist from a short interview.

    • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday July 27 2020, @10:53PM (1 child)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Monday July 27 2020, @10:53PM (#1027363)

      ...how to pick out an abusive narcissist from a short interview.

      I wish I could have done that when I was in my twenties. I would not have wasted years working for a couple those sorts.

      I have learned however, and if the top person at the company I am interviewing with came out of the finance department I don't take the job.

      If the person my manager reports to is the company accountant, I don't take the job.

      I explained that once to a very nice HR lady when I said "thanks, but no thanks" and she didn't sound surprised at all.

      Oh, also, if the boss is the offspring of the founder, be careful. If the boss is the grandchild of the founder, don't bother.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday July 28 2020, @02:07AM

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday July 28 2020, @02:07AM (#1027466)

        I took a job working for Napoleon incarnate - short, Jesuit educated - spoke 6 languages, rich (in the 10s of millions net worth class) and rubbed elbows with richer. I put in an app on the website and he personally phoned me 4 hours later, spent all of Friday interviewing with him and the team, mostly him, 70 miles from where I lived. Maybe 40 employees total, over half of the 10 person R&D department was getting emigration benefits in lieu of competitive pay. I knew what I was getting into, but wanted a job in the bigger town and had nothing going where I was - we found a house over the weekend and I accepted the job on Monday.

        6 months later he had a really bad day with the sales guys, came over to R&D and took it out on us - strutting, threatening firing, shouting about how much we cost him and how little we did for him, etc. Coincidentally, a lead for a WFH position fell in my lap later that night: sign from God if ever there was one. The bad day blew over and he was "normal" again - during the 6 months he would normally keep his nose out of R&D, meet with us every 3 to 6 weeks, listen to what I had to say, dump on everything I suggested, then run around behind my back and order 9/10 things that he dumped on in the meetings to be done by his Ops guys. Once I showed up at 10am (driving from 70 miles away, I normally got there around 8:30, but had a couple of unavoidable errands...) and he made a point of calling me into his office and explicitly trashing everything I had suggested over the past 2 months - I reminded him we had an arrangement that I would be coming in late on Mondays... he completely denied that it had anything to do with that... yeah.

        So, it was with extreme glee that I crafted the two weeks written notice with claim to all of my unused PTO accrued to-date, particularly the extra week off I negotiated with him at the start. In the exit interviews I made it clear: this opportunity came to me the day after his little hissy fit - I can take the heat, but the other offer is better than he ever will come through with and why should anyone put up with that? He pitched a lame stock plan, going public, offering shares to the employees - how could I turn that down? Well, sir, first you would have to tell me that's coming in order for me to value it, wouldn't you? Maybe you want to tell your other employees about it? He did, the next day. Within 3 months, the place I moved to handed out bonuses all around - 15% of annual salary in my case - and within 6 months more, they were bought out by a big company and another 6 months pay bonus came my way. Zero regrets.

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