posted in article comments:
============================<p>Quote: "Over time, we’ve encountered some remote candidates who want London rates whilst living in a lower-cost country. I don’t mean them any harm, but can’t think of any other term but “greedy”."<p>Julien, I'm sorry, but if I were considering your company as a potential employer, a statement like this would immediately make question your good faith. Ensuring that I can afford an "identical standard of living" as my colleagues is an extremely questionable principle, even if you were able to actually objectively determine that (which you can't).<p>What business of yours is it that I choose to live in Berlin vs. Zurich or Bratislava? You wouldn't pay more a person with a severely disabled dependent requiring round the clock care, would you, even though this circumstance will affect her happiness and productivity greatly. You wouldn't be able to pay less a person that lives in a London suburb an hour and a half away on a train. The choice of locale and cost of living is one of principal advantages of working remotely, and it's the employee's decision and not yours whether the net benefit of their arrangement (salary + cost of living + subjective locale benefits) is adequate.<p>You may think that your ability to hire doesn't suffer as a result of your beliefs on this point, but I suspect that you're (perhaps knowingly) giving up on a category of highly qualified senior candidates that are smart enough to not accept your self-proclaimed bullshit right to decide (conveniently) what compensation is fair based on their locale alone.
You don't need to think of any other term - 'greedy' is correct. London rates are London rates because the work is in London, with all the baggage that involves. Take a look at the job listings for non-London work.