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Gitlab and remote work

about.gitlab.com

81–90 of 214 posts

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you missed the biggest advantage of remote only: they can hire from any market.

It’s kinda funny everyone here arguing they should be paid the same regardless of location - but then complaining when the reality of that wish is not what they’d imagined.

yes, very silly that people desire equally well paid jobs regardless of location. how very silly of them.

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, so exactly the same model like the sweatshops in Asia. Pay just good enough that they can't afford to not do the job. Very generous.

Nice but wrong. Sweatshops pay like shit. I am talking about good Pay in your area (greater than average cost of living). Apples and Oranges.

> Sweatshops pay like shit.

Like Gitlab then?

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you're paying me for my skills and expertise, not for where I live.

This is likely correct in the long run and it means software engineering compensation will be dropping significantly in the next decade.

This line has been repeated ad nauseum but I have never seen any backing data. Why would salaries decrease? Software development, done well, is a highly technical craft. Maybe for the first rung of developers it'll go way down but those Staff/Senior Staff I would expect to still command large salaries.

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s kinda funny everyone here arguing they should be paid the same regardless of location - but then complaining when the reality of that wish is not what they’d imagined.

yes, very silly that people desire equally well paid jobs regardless of location. how very silly of them.

It just doesn’t match the reality of market forces and it’s obvious.

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#85
post #59
post #2

Still paying according to location for the same work?

What I don't get is: why would they pay more for someone from San Francisco? I'd expect the incentive to be to indeed pay the same for the same work, but that pay would be the lowest they can get away with. (i.e. I wouldn't expect that to lead to Silicon Valley salaries all over the world.) Unless it's not actually the same work, and location affects work. It does at least affect gross pay in any case, I suppose.

> why would they pay more for someone from San Francisco?

I can't answer for GitLab, but widely, people often believe that San Francisco has an "exceptional" talent pool and that companies pay a premium for that because of competition.

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#86
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw a list of companies that paid the same regardless of location. There were even a few bay area companies that didn't cut your pay when you moved away, I wish I had that handy.

Can you name a few who will pay a Senior Software Engineer the same salary in Bay Area vs say Bangalore, India ? I am curious.

If you want to get the same pay for remote work no matter where you are, just become a contractor.

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You pay according to location for the same bottle of Coke? How is work pay different? Why shouldn't payment for work be tied to local price ranges and cost of living?

Because you're paying me for my skills and expertise, not for where I live.

100% absolutely agreed. You're paying me for the work I can do for you. If someone else on the team with the same role and JD as me, gets paid more while you expect the _same level of work_ from us both, that's bullshit. Admit then you the company are paying less because you want the cheaper labor and don't complain when I put in less effort thsn the other person you're paying more. Paid for effort and knowledge, not the goddamn city I live in. If it's the same job, it should pay the same wage. Period.

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#88

My favorite part of their story is how they changed the interview process to not be terrible and built a dashboard to quantify it: https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2020/03/19/the-trouble-with-te...

Unfortunately the dashboard seems to be very broken now :(

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#89
I appreciate a lot of what Gitlab has done, but as someone who has been permanently remote for nearly a decade, I don't really consider them to be a leader in remote work. One of my biggest issues with Gitlab is that they pay based on locality, many other fully remote companies pay below Bay Area salaries, but they pay flat globally, meaning you can be location-independent without a pay-cut and it helps to bring in high quality talent from across the world. Gitlab instead seems to be focused on maximizing revenue per headcount rather than actually allowing their employees to enjoy the benefits of remote work.

I spent many years working at companies where I was underpaid relative to peers who went to the office, but I got paid the same whether I was currently residing in Prague, Santiago, or Kansas City, and that was a much fairer trade-off than getting pay-cut if you relocate to a lower cost of living area, and I have no doubt that the reverse is not true (they don't increase pay because you move to a HCOL).

Re: Gitlab and remote work

#90
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You pay according to location for the same bottle of Coke? How is work pay different? Why shouldn't payment for work be tied to local price ranges and cost of living?

GitLab doesn't charge based on the location of their customers.

Gitlab ideally wants clients in Silicon Valley but staff in Lahore.
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