Work From Home? Get Ready for Pay Cuts.

The Work-From-Home Boom Is Here to Stay. Get Ready for Pay Cuts

White-collar workers are taking advantage of a newfound flexibility to leave expensive coastal cities, even as companies move to “localize” their pay.

Rachel Musiker was on maternity leave, stuck in a two-bedroom basement apartment with a newborn, when Covid-19 started spreading in New York City. Her husband, who works in the insurance industry, was still commuting on the subway, so she started making him shower before holding the baby. “It was just starting to feel unsafe to even go for walks,” Musiker says. So, on March 14, they packed a few bags and drove to Rochester, N.Y.

She and her husband had planned to stay with her parents for two weeks in Rochester. They ended up there for nine. Afterward they rented a house outside town on Lake Ontario, and Musiker settled back into her job as director of communications at the real estate and technology company Redfin Corp.

Musiker’s salary and bonus will go down about 20% next year if she stays in Rochester. She’s resigned to the trade-off, at least for now. “So much in the world is not how I thought it would be,” she says.

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Seems like the covid party is coming to an end for many White-collar workers who are finding they can no longer have their cake and eat it too.

Let's face it; Covid-19 has not been a tragedy for the more affluent members of our society. Many people had a boom year while their neighbors were dieing, losing their livelihoods and making hard decisions pinning important aspects of life against each other; like child care vs career.

In many ways it has been this dichotomy in experience that has lead to our economic destroying covid policies. If your making a big city salary while working in your PJs with a beer in your hand why would you ever want covid lockdowns to end?

Unfortunately most of the more affluent still have a boss who is more interested in the bottom line than they are in making their employees lives easier.

Like many people during the pandemic who could suddenly work remotely, Musiker had moved without figuring out all the details with her employer Redfin. One thing they hadn’t discussed was salary. Now that she lived in an inexpensive city, Redfin asked, would she be willing to accept a pay cut?

Redfin set a new corporate policy in August allowing what Redfin calls “headquarters employees”—the 1,000 or so people who aren’t real estate agents or field operations staff—to work remotely full time as long as they accept “localized” compensation.

What will those impacted do now? Accept the pay cuts or go back to the office?

What Musiker and workers like her do in the long run could be one of the lasting legacies of the pandemic. If the exodus to second cities and exurbs becomes permanent, it has the potential to improve corporate balance sheets, remake labor markets, and profoundly reshape the American landscape. Millions of upwardly mobile urban dwellers may find that they can move out without sacrificing their career ambitions. “It’s only just started,” says Nick Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford who has studied work-from-home trends. “There’s going to be a reverse of the urban boom.”

But not all corporations agree that there is even a question and instead want their employees to come back to the office. They believe the work from home model is less efficient and brings with it many new problems.

There are doubters, of course. Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink, and Reed Hastings—the bosses of JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, and Netflix, respectively—have all argued against the shift, suggesting, in various ways, that remote employees aren’t as productive, that corporate cultures will be eroded, and that workers’ mental health could suffer.

Pay cuts or office call backs; new normal vs old normal. Which will be better for White-collar workers?

originally posted by: dandandat2
If your making a big city salary while working in your PJs with a beer in your hand why would you ever want covid lockdowns to end?

Because it's mind numbing to work from home every day month after month, that's why.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: dandandat2
If your making a big city salary while working in your PJs with a beer in your hand why would you ever want covid lockdowns to end?

Because it's mind numbing to work from home every day month after month, that's why.

As is the mundane routine of the commute and office environment..... only loss is the gossip if you thrive on such trivial encounters.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: dandandat2
If your making a big city salary while working in your PJs with a beer in your hand why would you ever want covid lockdowns to end?

Because it's mind numbing to work from home every day month after month, that's why.

For some I imagine it is; but I would guess those people already found a way to get back to the office by now. There are still plenty of people still drinking myties while (not) working from their back yard decks.

originally posted by: CthruU
As is the mundane routine of the commute and office environment..... only loss is the gossip if you thrive on such trivial encounters.

I don't commute to an office, I travel the country, to Europe, South America and occasionally Asia for work. Riding a desk for the past year has sucked balls.

originally posted by: dandandat2
For some I imagine it is; but I would guess those people already found a way to get back to the office by now.

The company I work for has not yet authorized travel so I am still sitting here as my ass goes numb every day.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: dandandat2
For some I imagine it is; but I would guess those people already found a way to get back to the office by now.

The company I work for has not yet authorized travel so I am still sitting here as my ass goes numb every day.

The company I work for has had strict travel policies; where the approvals for travel have to go all the way to the top ... its funny that travel has always been approved however.

a reply to: dandandat2

I'm hoping to be back in the road next month or in July. My boss is already talking about a trip to London, Leiden and Milan so that would be a vast improvement over sitting here for 12 hours a day.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: dandandat2

I'm hoping to be back in the road next month or in July. My boss is already talking about a trip to London, Leiden and Milan so that would be a vast improvement over sitting here for 12 hours a day.

Wish I had more people like you working with me.

Setting up a Japan trip as we speak; but my team doesn't want to travel.

I have the choice to work from home or come into the office. Sometimes there are things that can't be done from home, so I have to come in. Before COVID we were looking at building an addition on to the plant. Now several departments are going to work from home permanently. They are going to designate about twenty offices that can be reserved like meeting rooms for those that need to come in. The rest is going to become manufacturing space.

originally posted by: JIMC5499
I have the choice to work from home or come into the office. Sometimes there are things that can't be done from home, so I have to come in. Before COVID we were looking at building an addition on to the plant. Now several departments are going to work from home permanently. They are going to designate about twenty offices that can be reserved like meeting rooms for those that need to come in. The rest is going to become manufacturing space.

The same is true for my company and the buildings they operate throughout the north east; especially the Boston area. They where making employees share cubicles meant for one person before covid ... their space problems are now solved... and if they can get some pay cuts out of the deal to it becomes a win win.

This was only a matter of time.
Something as small as getting dressed for work puts people in the right mindset.
Very few people have enough self discipline to work from home and be as productive as an office environment.

originally posted by: dandandat2
Wish I had more people like you working with me.

Setting up a Japan trip as we speak; but my team doesn't want to travel.

I wish I had more people like me on my own team, they're mostly run-rate potatoes.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Because it's mind numbing to work from home every day month after month, that's why.

Not just the mind!!! I did it for years and years... and had to take regularly scheduled breaks just to stretch and give my head a wobble! It takes some discipline and major organization.

I was an independent contractor though, and got paid according to what I actually produced. I really don't know how most salaried or even hourly positions would work out working at home...

Hell , I been working from home for about 10 years now.
No problems here.
Exercise and a strict eating diet .

originally posted by: Boadicea
Not just the mind!!! I did it for years and years... and had to take regularly scheduled breaks just to stretch and give my head a wobble! It takes some discipline and major organization.

I have a decent array of home work out equipment but one of the things I always did when I traveled was to book a property with a great fitness center so I could mix it up more.

originally posted by: Boadicea
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Because it's mind numbing to work from home every day month after month, that's why.

Not just the mind!!! I did it for years and years... and had to take regularly scheduled breaks just to stretch and give my head a wobble! It takes some discipline and major organization.

I was an independent contractor though, and got paid according to what I actually produced. I really don't know how most salaried or even hourly positions would work out working at home...

Its been my experience that many don't work out.

It's the employees who do come to work that get the short end of the stick. They need to make up for all the slack homeshored employees don't get done in a day.

It was a taboo topic to discuss during the hight of the pandemic. But now that the crisis seems all but over I think some homeshored employees are going to find more than their pay being cut if they don't step up their productivity.

Its now getting to the point where important projects are not getting done on time and customers no longer want to hear covid excuses.

a reply to: dandandat2

What this actually means that companies will no longer offer travel allowances for people who don't have to travel. That's normal.

If you don't have to pay to commute your expenses will be lower. So it balances out. You also spend less on food and dry cleaning and expensive business clothes.

For some people even owning one less suit is a saving of 3k a year.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Smart thinking!

I've always figured making stuff like that just part of your routine makes it a habit, and it becomes easy and effective. It's what I taught my kids whenever they were learning a new skill. Make sure you do it the right way the first time and every time, and then doing it right is the easy way.

Blessed to work in some of the most beautiful locations on the planet. We were only shut down for a few months due to covid but still have to observe strict protocols to limit contact.