If you could continue WFH for a pay cut, would you do it? I'd be more than happy to accept such a trade, as long as the pay cut is reasonable.
12 replies (most recent on top)
@ky exactly. Are you still going to be jealous? There is no way you’ll be able to leave it alone - the world is revolving around NYC and you after all. No one’s allowed to be happy outside of NYC. If you’re not in NYC - you just suffer for your choice of better life. Right?
@kv "I always fetched good salary". You should no problem then with DE. Good luck on your next adventure, with the world turning around you it shouldn't be a very far walk.
@kh wrong again. I was remote before I moved to NYC for Sephora and now I’m remote again. You people have very narrow view on the world - you think remote started with Covid, you think everyone started in NYC and then moved away, whatever has happened to you - must be how everyone else’s experience has been. So I ask again - I always had remote, I didn’t originate from NYC, and I always fetched good salary. Why now, because DE decided to play the game, do you think MY life is going to change? It won’t. You just want it to be the case, because you can’t get it what I have.
You moved out of LA/NYC for cheaper housing, cheaper everything, and less daily financial pain, then turned around and said “cool, now keep paying me the LA/NYC premium anyway,” which is a cute way of asking a company to fund your lifestyle arbitrage. Pay is anchored to what it costs to hire and retain that role in the market you’re actually in, not a souvenir from your old zip code, and if the same job can be filled locally for less, that’s the new reality, not a personal attack. Remote work didn’t abolish economics, it widened the talent pool, and that cuts both ways. If you want LA/NYC money, live in LA/NYC or bring LA/NYC-level scarcity to the table, because “I used to be expensive” is not a compensation strategy.
@gj couple of things. One - you said the key thing - not everyone wants the same life. I respect your preference, you do you. But the attitude that everything else would be a shithole that doesn’t fetch competitive salaries is factually untrue. And that’s the second thing. See, unlike you, native New Yorker - I am a nomad. I lived in 7 different states in the last 10 years, moving almost every year - because I liked seeing new places and trying different life. In both NY and NJ I lived for three years working for Sephora, and commuting to Times Square - their office is right across 1515. I know this life in and out, and unlike you - I have a point of reference for comparison. Lastly, as I said below, I worked remote for a good portion of the last 15 years. I got remote with ViacomCBS before Covid. And I always fetched good salary regardless of the location, and location was never part of my comp package negotiation. To emphasize - BEFORE Covid. So, where’s that idea comes from that now because there’s RTO in Paramount somehow my compensation should be affected because someone’s jealous? Let me guess - place of ignorance, thinking that remote only started in covid. Don’t worry, my job will continue to be remote and my compensation will be just fine with or without Paramount. US is a big market and remote allows access to ALL of it, not just my local area. I already have a few offers on my desk. And if I’d ever had to go to the office again, which is unlikely but trust me, it definitely wouldn’t be a place like NYC.
@g1 Millions choose NYC for talent, culture, and opportunity – not because they’re trapped. It can be messy and expensive, sure, but that’s why companies have paid a premium here: the market demands it. And in the entertainment industry especially, NYC + LA have always been the hubs. I’m a proud native New Yorker, and yes – I’d pick this city again over someplace slower and quieter with less happening and a lack of culture and diversity. Not everyone wants the same life, and that’s fine.
But if someone chooses to stay fully remote while others are required back 5 days a week, it’s unrealistic to expect identical compensation. Flexibility is a benefit — and like every benefit, it has a value. You can’t claim location doesn’t matter AND expect the market to pretend it does.
Nothing screams “never lived in NYC” like reducing it to a smelly hellscape while ignoring that cost of living, talent density, and industry presence drive salaries. You don’t have to like NYC, but stereotypes aren’t an argument – they just show how far you are from what you’re talking about.
There seems to be some religious cult around here of believers that life only exists in NY and LA. They seem to take some kind of pride in living in the dirty smelly cesspool with po-p and p-e on the streets and crazy people regularly as--ulting commuters. That’s what they call expensive market with expensive talent LOL. A place where even a small 1 bedroom apartments are ridiculously overpriced, forget any sort of backyard or a garage. That, or crazy multi hour commutes involving more than one transport (still overpriced). They seem to enjoy that life for some reason. That truly boggles my mind. I could imagine leaders of that cult are someone who bought in a long time ago, and now they simply can’t afford the masses to learn that there are other places to go to which would ruin their real estate bubble. They are deeply invested in continuing to propel this idea that you can only exist in one of these places, and the rest of US are just farmers and scary MAGA. But the rest of you? Wake the he-l up.
There’s about 50 locations, of which NY is only top 2 and LA is top 5. Surprise - there’s another place taking the gold medal. Of course it’s even worse than LA or NY, not suggesting you go there, just saying it to dissipate the illusion - you’re already NOT the top 1. The places in at least top 10 are fetching comparable salary, especially considering cheaper real estate, cheaper insurance, lower taxes etc. A place where you can have a backyard and a garage and some resemblance of privacy. And imagine that - no human fe--s, no homeless, no crime, no stolen packages, no communist governors. In my humble opinion, the best places are further down the list, as even the top 10 are still on the smelly side for me. And you can still fetch NY/LA salary if you’re skilled enough, and you can comfortably commute to the office in the comfort of your own car and park it for free at the office. Maybe not with Paramount but then again - with Paramount you already were not fetching top salary anyway even in NY or LA. Pick your poison. The grass is greener almost anywhere else you go.
@fh I’ve been earning higher than average NY/LA tech salary remotely for the past 15 years. What am I doing wrong? Jealous much?
Differentiated salaries for remote vs in office or even for various geographic locations is complete and utter bs. Your salary should be based on your skill. Full stop. As a former HR professional, this is a hill I will die on.
Why is this even a question? Go get another remote offer, a few is even better. Now you know your worth. Chances are - Paramount already pays you less than that. Negotiate and use the offers to back up your words. Can’t reach favorable agreement - accept one of the offers, wave goodbye.
H E L L NO! I work from home and they still don't pay me enough to cover all my rent, groceries, bills, student debt, etc. The people who own this company are richer than G-D at this point, but they'd rather we were all AI already so they can keep wasting clean drinking water and burning dirty energy at their data centers so the consumer piggies can splice their ugly mugs into a Space Jam/Star Trek crossover or whatever stupid ideas they have cooking. maybe in the future they'll pay for us to MAID ourselves... goodie. I'm expecting all Phase 2 must drag their bodies across a bed of nails if they want a 0.05% merit increase.
Nope.