As someone who started working remotely in my first job back in 1999, I’m baffled by all these tech companies requiring people to return to the office for multiple days a week. But that’s not what I’m ranting about today.
I’m dipping my toe into the job search waters. LinkedIn will tell you it’s a terrible time to look for tech jobs given the massive layoffs by all the well-known companies in the past year. I’m lucky and privileged to not need a job RIGHTNOW so I’m trying to find the right one.
I just withdrew from an interview loop for a really great local hybrid job with a worldwide tech company. The people who interviewed me were some of the *nicest* people I’ve ever met in tech. The interviews were going well, and then the recruiter called me out of the blue wanting to make sure the base salary range was going to be ok.
It was not OK. I have a rule not to go backwards in compensation when taking a new tech job. (Obviously, this would be different at a startup and I could negotiate on equity or it was a non-profit.) But for a well-known tech company with a viable product line that has a reputation for paying well, I’m not willing to take a pay cut from my last job. Even if they think that living in Phoenix means they can pay me less.
And this is my rant about location-based pay. I get that companies want to hire talent for less. This is why they outsource whole development teams to countries like India, where you can hire 2-3 engineers for the price of one in the US.
But don’t tell me that I’m worth less because I live in Phoenix than when I lived in Seattle. The cost of living isn’t THAT different, and whatever indexes they’re using haven’t caught up to reality since COVID. You can no longer buy a decent home in Phoenix for $200k. Our groceries are not dramatically cheaper.
And more to the point, why is it this company’s business that my cost of living *might* be cheaper? It smacks of the same kind of personal involvement that shouldn’t happen when a company chooses to lay off a woman because “they don’t have a family to support” compared to that man over there. It is not their business to make these bullshit assumptions about someone’s cost of living.
Cost of living salary increases are a thing of the past. How many companies are giving no raises right now? So why is it still ok to pay the guy in Phoenix 20% less than the guy in LA or Seattle *doing the same job* because some index set in 2010 says COL is cheaper? In my particular case, my previous salary was *already* adjusted for Phoenix so the cut made no sense.
I won’t lie, I’m sad about losing that opportunity. It seemed like a great role with great people. But I’m not willing to incur a significant commute and more responsibility for a huge pay cut. I guess we’ll find out if that’s going to be a huge issue in the coming months.