Employees reveal Google has cut the pay of WFH staff

[Anonymous]

At a virtual all-hands meeting earlier this month, CEO Sundar Pichai and other execs faced multiple angry questions about dissatisfaction over pay, according to a CNBC report on Thursday.

It comes after Google announced last summer that it would be reducing pay packages for employees who opt to work remotely on a permanent basis, to adjust their compensation in line with the local market where they live.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/24/google-employees-bombard-execs-about-pay-at-recent-all-hands-meeting.html

[Anonymous]

This is what many companies are doing. Its not an uncommon practice. PreCovid we had many threads about how much of a pay cut was worth a remote position. I took one and it worked well for me for many years! No surprises here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what many companies are doing. Its not an uncommon practice. PreCovid we had many threads about how much of a pay cut was worth a remote position. I took one and it worked well for me for many years! No surprises here

+1 There was a hug thread about this in late 2020 (I think) when Facebook announced this approach. Even with adjusting for cost of living differences, it’s not like these big tech companies are paying small company crap wages. Why should Google pay SV wages for the employees that opted to move to Idaho?

[Anonymous]

Not at all surprising.

I save SO much more money while teleworking. I fill my car up maybe twice a month now, no tolls, no garage fees, no metro fees, not so much money spent on meals out.

I could not believe how much I was spending pre-covid until I really did the math. I had a budget before, sure, but it just didn't click for me until all the money for those things was available to be put to another use. I mean, pre-covid I realized I had a $250/month Starbucks/Dunkin' habit. That's crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what many companies are doing. Its not an uncommon practice. PreCovid we had many threads about how much of a pay cut was worth a remote position. I took one and it worked well for me for many years! No surprises here

+1 There was a hug thread about this in late 2020 (I think) when Facebook announced this approach. Even with adjusting for cost of living differences, it’s not like these big tech companies are paying small company crap wages. Why should Google pay SV wages for the employees that opted to move to Idaho?

Because wages should be tied to the work and not the location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not at all surprising.

I save SO much more money while teleworking. I fill my car up maybe twice a month now, no tolls, no garage fees, no metro fees, not so much money spent on meals out.

I could not believe how much I was spending pre-covid until I really did the math. I had a budget before, sure, but it just didn't click for me until all the money for those things was available to be put to another use. I mean, pre-covid I realized I had a $250/month Starbucks/Dunkin' habit. That's crazy.

That’s not crazy, it’s stupid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what many companies are doing. Its not an uncommon practice. PreCovid we had many threads about how much of a pay cut was worth a remote position. I took one and it worked well for me for many years! No surprises here

+1 There was a hug thread about this in late 2020 (I think) when Facebook announced this approach. Even with adjusting for cost of living differences, it’s not like these big tech companies are paying small company crap wages. Why should Google pay SV wages for the employees that opted to move to Idaho?

Because wages should be tied to the work and not the location.

You can believe that all you want, but employers disagree.

[Anonymous]

Thank goodness Amazon isn't doing this.

[Anonymous]

They should increase pay with less office space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what many companies are doing. Its not an uncommon practice. PreCovid we had many threads about how much of a pay cut was worth a remote position. I took one and it worked well for me for many years! No surprises here

+1 There was a hug thread about this in late 2020 (I think) when Facebook announced this approach. Even with adjusting for cost of living differences, it’s not like these big tech companies are paying small company crap wages. Why should Google pay SV wages for the employees that opted to move to Idaho?

Because wages should be tied to the work and not the location.

Well Google and Facebook think otherwise and they set the pace for most tech salaries.

[Anonymous]

Don’t the Feds also this with the locality pay? Why is it surprising?
Employees are also upset that bidets are being removed from the Google bathrooms LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t the Feds also this with the locality pay? Why is it surprising?
Employees are also upset that bidets are being removed from the Google bathrooms LOL.

Most national employers have some form of locality pay. I have no idea why OP finds this so shocking unless she is completely new to the labor market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t the Feds also this with the locality pay? Why is it surprising?
Employees are also upset that bidets are being removed from the Google bathrooms LOL.

Most national employers have some form of locality pay. I have no idea why OP finds this so shocking unless she is completely new to the labor market.

I don’t think OP found it shocking. Their post seems to just be reporting an article they read. 23:06 seems to not get it.

[Anonymous]

I'm generally in the camp of you should pay people for the job that they are doing, particularly if everyone has the option to work remotely. I do think perhaps it's worth giving a premium to people who come into the office, if coming into the office is something that is valuable to the company. However, if two different people are remote, I'm not sure why salaries would be different.

All that being said, one nuance to consider here is on how locality pay is determined.

1) Some companies adjust pay based on cost of living. In other words, they look at a price index based on a basket of goods. This is typically what people think about when they think of locality pay. This is, for example, how the federal government does locality pay.

2) Some companies adjust pay based on prevailing wages in an area. In other words, they look at the average pay of engineers or financial analysts or lawyers in a region. Then, they adjust pay based on this metric. This is more controversial and it can lead to lower wages than might be expected despite a person living in a high cost of living area.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand the rationale of any objection to this concept.

We expect to pay less for a house in Omaha than we do in Boston, right? Isn't this just the same thing?