Posted on 08/11/2021 8:49:01 AM PDT by Brookhaven
Data from a leaked internal salary calculator at Alphabet’s Google reveals that employees who decide to work from home indefinitely face pay cuts of up to 25%.
A sign is pictured outside a Google office near the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 8, 2019. REUTERS/Paresh Dave/File Photo The news comes as a surprise, as the tech giant has been outwardly supportive of working from home during the pandemic – and just last week approved nearly 10,000 employee requests to do so. Google also pushed back its target date for employees to return to the office from September to October 18 in light of the Delta variant, according to Business Insider.
Alphabet Inc’s Google stands out in offering employees a calculator that allows them to see the effects of a move. But in practice, some remote employees, especially those who commute from long distances, could experience pay cuts without changing their address.One Google employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, typically commutes to the Seattle office from a nearby county and would likely see their pay cut by about 10% by working from home full-time, according estimates by the company’s Work Location Tool launched in June.
The employee was considering remote work but decided to keep going to the office – despite the two-hour commute. “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,” they said. –Reuters
“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,” one spokesperson told Reuters, adding that pay differs from state to state.
Washington University sociology professor Jake Rosenfeld, who researches salaries, said that Google’s pay structure raises alarms about who’s going to feel the pay cuts the most.
“What’s clear is that Google doesn’t have to do this,” he said, adding “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.”
According to the internal salary calculator, an employee living in Stamford, Connecticut would be paid 15% less if they work from home vs. commuting one hour by train into New York City. Another colleague who actually lives in NYC would see no pay cut. According to screenshots, there were 5-10% differences for workers in the Seattle, Boston and San Francisco areas.
Employees who leave the San Francisco office for an almost as expensive area such as Lake Tahoe would face cuts up to 25%.
The calculator states it uses U.S. Census Bureau metropolitan statistical areas, or CBSAs. Stamford, Connecticut, for example, is not in New York City’s CBSA, even though many people who live there work in New York.A Google spokesperson said the company will not change an employee’s salary based on them going from office work to being fully remote in the city where the office is located. Employees working in the New York City office will be paid the same as those working remotely from another New York City location, for example, according to the spokesperson. -Reuters
Facebook and Twitter have adopted a similar stance, while other companies such as Reddit and Zillow have shifted to location-agnostic pay models.
There seems to be a serious drive by companies to force employees back into the office, even if they have been--successfully--performing their job at home for over a year.
I find it humorous though, that companies think they can cut employee's pay by 25% and there will be no unintended consequences.
meanwhile Google keeps buying up tons and tons and tons and tons of the most expensive real estate on earth
If someone does the math, the cost of commuting, business wardrobe, travel during the commute, living close to your place of employment in a higher cost environment, pretty soon you will figure out you can live somewhere nicer and the 25% reduction in your pay more than compensated.
The overall message, in so many areas right now, seems to be “We Control You”.
There is evidence to the contrary: I can work from home; I don’t have to take the jab; I can vote for politicians of my own choosing, etc.
But bit by bit you can see all of this being eroded as The Powers That Be take steps to let us all know that we need to submit.
We always hear that the Googleplex is such a wonderful place to work. If it’s such a great place to work why do so many (most) not want to go back ?
The primary reason for this is companies either own or lease large office buildings (and often the land the building sit on). They can't sell the buildings or get out of their leases, so they want the buildings occupied.
It seems to me that part of what should be considered here would be, what are expectations as to the employee using his or her own computer, printer, wi-fi, phone, etc., or are these tools provided? Do they have computer support available, if they have to use their own equipment?
Personally, I would not want to work at home, but a couple in our office do it (one full-time and one part-time), and my son actually changed jobs right in the middle of the pandemic last summer, and has been working at home ever since (and insists he plans to continue doing so).
There seem to be mixed results as far as productivity, etc.
OTOH, it does not surprise me that Google would be discouraging it now, since having employees in the office works better for controlling them.
I wonder if those who work from home in suburbia rather than commute into NYC, still have to pay NYC income tax on their paychecks.
I did that once. Added babysitter, gas, lunches, clothing, etc. Found out I was making about $150 a month. Quit and went back to work tending bar (tips) part time at night and went back to school to get my degree.
also the question i ask in #8
Punish employees because the corporation made stupid real estate decisions—class act!
;-)
Maybe people at home are 25% less productive.
We became a two income family for a little while but when I did the math; gas, lunches, 2nd registration and insurance plus the cost of day care and after care, it was a break even and we were both miserable from all the hustling around and getting home at 6pm and having to still make dinner and deal with homework.
When I was single, I could do math too and it cost quite a bit to work. Later I became self employed working from home and loved it.
I should add that a secondary reason is that city and county governments are pressuring marquee companies to get their employees back into the big corporate buildings to help revive their commercial and center city locations.
If your employer is in NYC you pay NYC employee taxes. Ask those who live in NJ or Connecticut? Even out of town sports players pay a New York City tax when they play a game in New York City.
So, go sit in those parking lots known as “freeways” two times each weekday, or lose your salary.
Such wonderful people these progressives are.
If I work for the same company, doing the same job, in Iowa and California, the Cali wage will be a lot higher to cover the cost of living. That has been the case since long before I was alive. No company I know of did otherwise.
So if you WFM in Boise, do you get paid the same for a guy working in San Francisco? What about if you live in Costa Rica?
Working from home just means you are competing with everyone with a high speed internet connection.
And that is a totally valid argument from their point of view, especially when they are spending huge amounts of money expanding existing campuses or building new ones. Apple built a new complex. Google was in the process of expanding their Mountain View campus, at least until Covid hit. But for what .. if employees don’t want to return ? All for naught. Btw I have been to the Googleplex. It truly is impressive.
The higher quality employees (who have choices of employers) will chose those who meet their needs.
Google will get stuck with the dregs.
They should pay people more for working from home - they are making a smaller carbon footprint and helping to save the erf!
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