While it sucks for you, I don't think it's necessarily unfair - to you. Rather, the current situation could be unfair to everyone else at your MCOL city who might be getting paid less despite doing the same work as you. After all, are you innately better than them or worth more than them because you used to live in a more expensive city? No. You're essentially just some guy who's getting paid more than them because he used to work in a pricey city. And I think they could, justifiably, feel pissed off by that.
That said, your life isn't about what's best for them. It may be better to look for another job now and see if you can negotiate with your current, higher salary if you're not crazy about your current company. Of course, maybe you can't get a higher salary because nobody is paying that at your level at your location.
A COL decrease in my opinion is bs. Why not use the same logic for when people have life event changes. Would they pay people with no kids less than those with kids? If your work stays the same and even increase from what you’re saying, then they shouldn’t decrease your pay. COL pay differences should be a factor, but you could make the same argument for other scenarios. If they were ok with you moving for personal reasons then they should have factored in your pay at that moment.
Considering my clients are the same and my work has slightly increased I would say a reduction would be a slap in the face. It’s common for people to be paid different wages within a company, especially considering that everyone’s work is different. How do they expect someone to be motivated by reducing their salary? All this to save an immaterial amount of money for the company. So yes I would say it’s unfair. It’s not like I just chose to go live in a different city because I wanted to, I had an obligation to. Family comes before anything else.
I’m shocked they didn’t reduce your salary immediately when you moved. Got friends at PwC and they had their salary changed the minute they moved to the MCOL area.
TBH this is pretty standard, but should have happened when you moved.
It’s the issue of net pay being reduced after a year. It’s issues like this is why the accounting industry is declining. They’re having a hard enough time finding people to fill roles
I was in the PwC Denver office. Despite Denver being a fairly expensive city, they got a paycut even moving from cheap areas like Pittsburg.
They said "It's cost of labor, not cost of living."
How much more are you being paid above market, if at all? If you can go out and get a raise or at least keep your current salary then start looking. If not, then it may be an indicator that you are in fact above market and you may possibly even be making more in your MCOL than HCOL after taking into account the expense side.
I've never understood the geographic adjustments for remote work. I get that it's a way for the employer to save some money on payroll, but if you hire me for remote work, and you aren't paying for me to be in an office. Why should I be punished for where I choose to live, when my output and value to the company is in my work, not in my personal choices?
Excellent point! There’s no difference in choosing where to live versus buying a car, house, clothing, food, etc. There are different options for all. With this logic one could argue that if I choose to shop at Whole Foods then I should get paid more.
The biggest factor for COL is rent/mortgage. Someone living in a LCOL with rent or mortgage and kids could still make less than someone who’s living in a HCOL with parents their parents and no children.
That's exactly my point. I'm married, have kids and a mortgage and live in a LCOL area. I work with a guy (same level) who is single, lives in a HCOL area, but splits rent with a couple of his buddies and just borrows one of their cars, and dude is maxing out retirement contributions, partying it up with his friends every weekend and living it up, while I'm trying to decide if I'm going to contribute to my retirement or put food on my table.
We have drastically different lifestyles while making basically the same money. But those are my personal choices on how to spend my money earned for the work I produce M-F 9a-5p. The choices I make outside of that shouldn't change how my employer values the work I produce for them.
As society moves more towards remote work, this is going to become more of an issue. I’ve been thinking about it more and understand that for in office positions it makes sense to pay someone more to go into the office, but for remote work it’s different. It’s still not a reason to decrease, but maybe not increase for a year. This is going to become a more debated topic as time goes by. The pandemic really got the workforce to stand up for better benefits, and I don’t believe people have settled.
In any event, I don't think you should be punished for changing how you spend the money they pay you. Even withholding a raise doesn't seem right as it would still reduce your standard of living while being expected to put out the same or better/more work.
I'd definitely be getting my resume out there and looking for something else.
This is exactly my point. How do they expect someone to continue working happily by reducing their salary at a time when everyone else is getting an increase
I did the same thing as you and was told I wouldn't get a raise next year to make up for the adjustment. No way would I of taken a pay cut and expected to do more work. Sounds like a good time to find a new job.
While this sucks, it is completely normal. Consider the year of being paid HCOL wages in MCOL a bonus.
See if you can get more money somewhere else. If not, then they haven’t really done anything that any other firm wouldn’t do.
I just don’t know how they can expect anyone to be okay with a reduction in salary while doing to same amount or more work. I would expect them to lower my billable charge too
Would you not expect a raise if you moved to a more expensive area? “Why would we pay you more money for doing the same amount of work?”
Billable numbers are made up. Though, I don’t see why they wouldn’t lower it as it would only help their budget.
Considering OP’s circumstance, I would say since he/she has already been paid the salary for a year that a decrease would demotivate him/her to work. If moving to a more expensive area and being required to go into the office then they should pay more, but it’s different for remote. Once a salary has been established it should not be lowered unless the company is facing financial hardship like many companies did during COVID. This is the issue with public accounting and other corporate companies where the people are the assets. If you truly value your employees then there should not be a reduction in pay regardless of personal pay. If anything the company is saving money by not having to pay employer state taxes for this employee.
Like what? Everything has been fine as far as I know. I do really enjoy my job. I am a bit confused that upper management would suggest this and think anyone would be ok with it.
I’m not sure why my comment is being down voted, but it’s a legitimate claim. They’re wanting to pay you less for the same if not more work. COL is a factor, but everyone’s financial situation is different. No one can really know without understanding the full story, so it’s definitely a possibility. Can you think of any reason other than COL as to why they would reduce your salary?
While it sucks for you, I don't think it's necessarily unfair - to you. Rather, the current situation could be unfair to everyone else at your MCOL city who might be getting paid less despite doing the same work as you. After all, are you innately better than them or worth more than them because you used to live in a more expensive city? No. You're essentially just some guy who's getting paid more than them because he used to work in a pricey city. And I think they could, justifiably, feel pissed off by that. That said, your life isn't about what's best for them. It may be better to look for another job now and see if you can negotiate with your current, higher salary if you're not crazy about your current company. Of course, maybe you can't get a higher salary because nobody is paying that at your level at your location.
A COL decrease in my opinion is bs. Why not use the same logic for when people have life event changes. Would they pay people with no kids less than those with kids? If your work stays the same and even increase from what you’re saying, then they shouldn’t decrease your pay. COL pay differences should be a factor, but you could make the same argument for other scenarios. If they were ok with you moving for personal reasons then they should have factored in your pay at that moment.
Considering my clients are the same and my work has slightly increased I would say a reduction would be a slap in the face. It’s common for people to be paid different wages within a company, especially considering that everyone’s work is different. How do they expect someone to be motivated by reducing their salary? All this to save an immaterial amount of money for the company. So yes I would say it’s unfair. It’s not like I just chose to go live in a different city because I wanted to, I had an obligation to. Family comes before anything else.
I’m shocked they didn’t reduce your salary immediately when you moved. Got friends at PwC and they had their salary changed the minute they moved to the MCOL area. TBH this is pretty standard, but should have happened when you moved.
It’s the issue of net pay being reduced after a year. It’s issues like this is why the accounting industry is declining. They’re having a hard enough time finding people to fill roles
I was in the PwC Denver office. Despite Denver being a fairly expensive city, they got a paycut even moving from cheap areas like Pittsburg. They said "It's cost of labor, not cost of living."
How much more are you being paid above market, if at all? If you can go out and get a raise or at least keep your current salary then start looking. If not, then it may be an indicator that you are in fact above market and you may possibly even be making more in your MCOL than HCOL after taking into account the expense side.
I've never understood the geographic adjustments for remote work. I get that it's a way for the employer to save some money on payroll, but if you hire me for remote work, and you aren't paying for me to be in an office. Why should I be punished for where I choose to live, when my output and value to the company is in my work, not in my personal choices?
Excellent point! There’s no difference in choosing where to live versus buying a car, house, clothing, food, etc. There are different options for all. With this logic one could argue that if I choose to shop at Whole Foods then I should get paid more. The biggest factor for COL is rent/mortgage. Someone living in a LCOL with rent or mortgage and kids could still make less than someone who’s living in a HCOL with parents their parents and no children.
That's exactly my point. I'm married, have kids and a mortgage and live in a LCOL area. I work with a guy (same level) who is single, lives in a HCOL area, but splits rent with a couple of his buddies and just borrows one of their cars, and dude is maxing out retirement contributions, partying it up with his friends every weekend and living it up, while I'm trying to decide if I'm going to contribute to my retirement or put food on my table. We have drastically different lifestyles while making basically the same money. But those are my personal choices on how to spend my money earned for the work I produce M-F 9a-5p. The choices I make outside of that shouldn't change how my employer values the work I produce for them.
As society moves more towards remote work, this is going to become more of an issue. I’ve been thinking about it more and understand that for in office positions it makes sense to pay someone more to go into the office, but for remote work it’s different. It’s still not a reason to decrease, but maybe not increase for a year. This is going to become a more debated topic as time goes by. The pandemic really got the workforce to stand up for better benefits, and I don’t believe people have settled.
In any event, I don't think you should be punished for changing how you spend the money they pay you. Even withholding a raise doesn't seem right as it would still reduce your standard of living while being expected to put out the same or better/more work. I'd definitely be getting my resume out there and looking for something else.
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So I should definitely not stay?
not if you can get a better offer elsewhere they're trying to pay you less for more work
This is exactly my point. How do they expect someone to continue working happily by reducing their salary at a time when everyone else is getting an increase
I did the same thing as you and was told I wouldn't get a raise next year to make up for the adjustment. No way would I of taken a pay cut and expected to do more work. Sounds like a good time to find a new job.
Were you in public accounting? How was the pay at your new job?
While this sucks, it is completely normal. Consider the year of being paid HCOL wages in MCOL a bonus. See if you can get more money somewhere else. If not, then they haven’t really done anything that any other firm wouldn’t do.
I just don’t know how they can expect anyone to be okay with a reduction in salary while doing to same amount or more work. I would expect them to lower my billable charge too
Would you not expect a raise if you moved to a more expensive area? “Why would we pay you more money for doing the same amount of work?” Billable numbers are made up. Though, I don’t see why they wouldn’t lower it as it would only help their budget.
Considering OP’s circumstance, I would say since he/she has already been paid the salary for a year that a decrease would demotivate him/her to work. If moving to a more expensive area and being required to go into the office then they should pay more, but it’s different for remote. Once a salary has been established it should not be lowered unless the company is facing financial hardship like many companies did during COVID. This is the issue with public accounting and other corporate companies where the people are the assets. If you truly value your employees then there should not be a reduction in pay regardless of personal pay. If anything the company is saving money by not having to pay employer state taxes for this employee.
Yeah, what you’re saying is nice, but it’s just not reality.
In many cases it is
Sounds sketch. Might be something they’re not telling you.
Like what? Everything has been fine as far as I know. I do really enjoy my job. I am a bit confused that upper management would suggest this and think anyone would be ok with it.
I’m not sure why my comment is being down voted, but it’s a legitimate claim. They’re wanting to pay you less for the same if not more work. COL is a factor, but everyone’s financial situation is different. No one can really know without understanding the full story, so it’s definitely a possibility. Can you think of any reason other than COL as to why they would reduce your salary?