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Before you lock in location-based bands, read the honest case against them: this lays out where cost-of-living pay breeds resentment, why cost-of-living data is squishier than it looks, and why 'same work, less money' quietly reads as unfair to the person outside the metro. It contrasts the GitLab/Airbnb location model against location-agnostic single-band pay so you choose deliberately instead of defaulting. For an India team where the metro-vs-elsewhere gap is real, this is the reality check that keeps your band from becoming the two-tier culture you were trying to avoid.
Should you earn less because you live somewhere cheaper?
From Sifted by Sifted 10 min read
- Location-based pay is commercially rational but can feel like your quality of life is decided by your employer
- Cost-of-living indices are subjective and drift, so a location band needs review, not set-and-forget
- The alternative is a single global band for equal role and level; pick one on purpose and be able to defend it
