Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 385 posts

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#291

Post by [deleted] »

pyrodactyl wrote: post #55
kleinsch wrote: post #22

Your pay is based on the cost to hire your replacement. That’s it. There’s no crazy conspiracies, there’s no moral failing, they’re not running a calculator of how much value you generate. Would it sap your motivation to learn there are people doing your same job at FAANGs making double what you make? Or that some other job makes more money than you? Location based pay is just another variable. As with everything in…

Its not a crazy conspiracy, I know it's pretty clear why it's being done. And I know I can't do anything about it other than look for new opportunities. But should location based pay be just accepted because that's the norm? There are variables that can't be used to do discriminate like age, gender, race, sexual orientation etc. We've accepted equal pay for equal work in these cases. Is it that far fetched that even…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#292

Post by planede »

sokoloff wrote: post #288
planede wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't your replacement cost the same, regardless your location? They don't have to replace you with someone from the same location.

They could, but if you’re on a team of 6, all of whom work in the same general area (even if remote), there’s a cost to hiring someone 4 time zones away, let alone 8 or 10.

Yeah, but then don't say that it's just the cost of the replacement. Say that the same employee is just worth that much more if they are working from B instead of A, for X and Y reasons.

Having said that, I am not really buying it. There are significant pay differences based on location even in the same time zone for the same remote work.

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#293

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

unmole wrote: post #243

I can tell you're in India. Just a few thoughts from a fellow Indian: - You are dramatically underestimating the cost of food and energy in Europe and America. - Countries with free functional education and healthcare have a much higher effective tax rate than India. - With the exception of Mumbai, a senior software engineer should be able to afford a house in any Indian city. If that is not the case, it's very likel…

The OP mentioned he is not married. Allow me to add: his personal life would be much more entertaining in India than in SF.

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#294

Post by sokoloff »

kodah wrote: post #232
kleinsch wrote: post #22

Your pay is based on the cost to hire your replacement. That’s it. There’s no crazy conspiracies, there’s no moral failing, they’re not running a calculator of how much value you generate. Would it sap your motivation to learn there are people doing your same job at FAANGs making double what you make? Or that some other job makes more money than you? Location based pay is just another variable. As with everything in…

> there’s no moral failing, Sorry, but this logic needs to stop. If a company is selling a product online for a fixed cost to an entire region then the people who contribute to that product that do the same thing should be paid the same amount. That is, indeed, a moral failing. If a company wants to pay workers less based on where they live then their product should be similarly cheaper. We just don't see this though…

Isn’t that how we got region-locked DVDs?

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#295

Post by spullara »

SQueeeeeL wrote: post #247
darth_avocado wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your pay is based on the cost to hire replacement What is being described here is supply/demand economics. If you think you’re being underpaid, quit, find something else that pays you more. The reason why you won’t quit is the reason why the company doesn’t pay you more. You don’t have other options, and if you quit, they know there will be 10 other people ready to take you place for those wages. Part of the reason…

> You don’t have other options, and if you quit, they know there will be 10 other people ready to take you place for those wages. I'm just imagining this dude quitting and his manager suddenly realizing that no one else knows anything about the parts he worked on and how fucked they are now. Just because a bunch of people could take your job doesn't mean they'll give a shit about the job. Good, well motivated, employ…

Sometimes your manager is happy for you that you quit knowing you could make more outside of the comp structure at the company you work at.

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#297

Post by spullara »

robertlagrant wrote: post #279
benhurmarcel wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your pay is based on the cost to hire your replacement. That’s it. That's not quite true. The cost of hiring your replacement is only the maximum they'll accept to pay you. But they will pay you only slightly above what they think you'll find elsewhere. So your pay is the MIN(cost of your replacement, what they think you can get elsewhere). That explains location-based pay for remote jobs. Because they take into ac…

I think it's 3 - the role has to be valuable enough to pay for: MIN(cost of your replacement, what they think you can get elsewhere, your value to the company)

they can't calculate 3 so it doesn't come into the conversation

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#298

Post by vultour »

supernova87a wrote: post #121

I don't wish to sound harsh, but you've got selective blinders on to the arguments that favor your position. And your position is arguing from the point of view of someone who already has the benefit of a job in a company and asking the company to justify itself why they don't pay you more. Here's a different point of view. A company can choose to consider people for work either close to their offices or remote. Peop…

How do you know he's working remotely? When I moved out of London back to the EU I was offered the same job in the company's local office, except it also came with a "salary adjustment" which meant they were going to pay me a fraction of what I was making.

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#299

Post by [deleted] »

crispyambulance wrote: post #273
patrulek wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm just imagining this dude quitting and his manager suddenly realizing that no one else knows anything about the parts he worked on and how fucked they are now. I would bet its rarely a case. We like to think that we are irreplacable, but after our quit company/project is still moving on.

> I would bet its rarely a case. I agree that life goes on, but it's not rare at all. It happens all the time. People leave and things are f-d up for a while. The thing is, it's not a permanent condition. People adapt, new hires are eventually found to fill the gap, or others who were thought of as not up to the task take the opportunity left by someone's absence to step up in their career. One person leaving won't s…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Location based pay is killing my motivation, how do others handle it?

#300

Post by spullara »

RestlessMind wrote: post #175
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Source: we are a Canadian company, and hire from everywhere but the US. I don't follow. This isn't true at all in my experience, plenty of companies in Canada and the US hire across Canada and the US. It's practically the norm. If you work for a Canadian company that doesn't hire in the US then you're comically underpaid. Wages are converging very fast. Many companies are paying parity and frankly folks are selling…

> This isn't true at all in my experience, plenty of companies in Canada and the US hire across Canada and the US. It's practically the norm. Probably only after they get to a certain scale and cannot find more talent in Canada? When did Shopify start hiring in the US - right from the beginning?

Shopify should not be considered a tech company. Ecommerce in general isn't a technology problem. Just to give you an example of how comically small fintech is here is a global example: Visa processes around 1,700 transactions per second.
Post reply on HN