A human resources tool Google developed that allows its employees to predict the salary impacts of a potential relocation revealed that for some employees, it’s better to return to hours-long commutes to the office instead of continuing to work remotely.
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The Work Location Tool pay calculator shows the financial impacts of a potential Google employee’s move.
“Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from,” a Google representative told Reuters, noting pay differs in each city and state.
According to the calculator, a Google employee who commutes two hours to Seattle said that if they chose to continue working remotely permanently, they would see their pay cut by about 10%.
“It’s as high of a pay cut as I got for my most recent promotion. I didn’t do all that hard work to get promoted to then take a pay cut,” the employee said about their decision to return to the office.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis describe Google’s potential cuts as shortchanging employees.
“What’s clear is that Google doesn’t have to do this,” said sociology professor Jake Rosenfeld, Reuters said. “Google has paid these workers at 100% of their prior wage, by definition. So it’s not like they can’t afford to pay their workers who choose to work remotely the same that they are used to receiving.”
The Alphabet company said the company would not change an employee’s pay rate for switching from going to the office to being fully remote in the same city where they are already located. A spokesperson said the company has always considered location, distance from the office, and commuting time when offering a compensation package.
Some suburbs, like Stamford, Connecticut outside New York City, do not qualify for the same salary as their nearby major metropolitans.
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