By Kevin Roth

Should you be expected to take a pay cut if your company is now fully remote and you decide to move to a city that happens to have a lower cost of living?

A lot of people are now facing this dilemma, so much so that it was one of the cover stories in the WSJ this morning.

Most people seem to think this is unethical and offensive. If my company is remote, why should my compensation be impacted based on me deciding to move?

Unfortunately, it’s not that black and white. There are a few factors to think about when determining if it’s a fair ask for you to take a salary adjustment:

1. Is there still a home office where people will be going back to? If so, is it going to require travel there during key times of year? (think costs of flights, hotel, stipends, etc. that they’ll now have to take on)

2. Is the company now open to hiring people from anywhere? If so, are you pricing yourself out of market compared to the talent they’re going to find elsewhere?

3. Is this realistically going to have any negative affect on my accessibility? (i.e. time zone changes)

There’s no right or wrong answer. Evaluate both sides of the equation and come to a solution that is fair for both parties.