Friday, June 13, 2025

Google employees who choose to WFH could see their pay cut

- Advertisement -

Google employees who choose to work from home permanently could see their pay cut

Google employees based in the same office before the pandemic could see different changes in pay if they switch to working from home permanently, with long commuters hit harder, according to a company pay calculator seen by Reuters.

It is an experiment taking place across Silicon Valley, which often sets trends for other large employers.

Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) 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.

“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,” a Google spokesperson said, adding that pay will differ from city to city and state to state.

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 to 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.

Jake Rosenfeld, a sociology professor at Washington University in St. Louis who researches pay determination, said Google’s pay structure raises alarms about who will feel the impacts most acutely, including families.

“What’s clear is that Google doesn’t have to do this,” Rosenfeld said. “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.”

Screenshots of Google’s internal salary calculator seen by Reuters show that an employee living in Stamford, Connecticut – an hour from New York City by train – would be paid 15% less if she worked from home, while a colleague from the same office living in New York City would see no cut from working from home. Screenshots showed 5% and 10% differences in the Seattle, Boston, and San Francisco areas.

Interviews with Google employees indicate pay cuts as high as 25% for remote work if they left San Francisco for an almost as expensive area of the state such as Lake Tahoe.

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.

Google did not specifically address the issue for commuters from areas such as Stamford, Connecticut.

Editorial

Why TCS Deferred FY25 Salary Hike: Better Hike Ahead?

TCS had initially announced its annual salary hike during...

Deloitte, PWC, EY, KPMG to Hire 1 Lakh People in India in FY25

According to estimates from top company officials and industry...

Higher EPS Pension Application Stuck: A Step-by-Step Guide to Fix

Nearly 97,640 Provident Fund (PF) members and pensioners under...

Employee Benefits at India’s Big 4 Firms Deloitte, PwC , EY, KPMG

The Big 4 firms; Deloitte, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), EY (Ernst...

TCS Announces 4-8% Salary Hike for FY25, Lowest in Last 4 Years

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services provider,...

Must Read

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran to head Business 20 India

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran has been appointed as the Chair of...

TCS MBA Off Campus Hiring for Batch 2022-2023, last date 20 Apr

An information technology services and consulting company, Tata Consultancy Services...

ISRO Internship 2025 and Student Project Trainee Opportunities

​The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) offers various internship...

DPIIT and Apna to Create Job Opportunities for Young Job Seekers

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)...

Centre Calls for Deregulation of Women-Unfriendly Work Laws

The central government has advised state governments to prioritize...

Infosys to host carnival for employees, families & friends on Dec 16

According to ET report, an Indian multinational information technology...

HCA Healthcare appoints Vijayraj Manuell as CHRO

One of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services, HCA Healthcare...

AI-Led Job Cuts Backfire—Klarna Brings Back 700 Human Workers

Swedish fintech company Klarna, known for its buy-now-pay-later services,...

Related Articles

SightsIn Plus
SightsIn Plushttps://sightsinplus.com/
SightsIn Plus is an India’s leading high-quality people-focused monthly HR Magazine and provides up-to-date HR News, Leadership Announcements, Best HR Practices and Insights by Global CHROs, CEOs, HR Advisors, Business Managers and HR Heads on topics of interest to HR professionals. To subscribe SightsIn Plus, HR Magazine please visit- https://sightsinplus.com/subscribe/