Article · 10 min read

Should you earn less because you live somewhere cheaper?

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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.

  • 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
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The question it answers

  1. How do I hire and manage across Indian cities so it does not become second-class remote?

Read with it

  1. GitLab runs 2,000+ people across 60+ countries with zero headquarters, so their handbook is the closest thing to a field manual... The GitLab Handbook Article · 45 min read GitLab's Guide to All-Remote GitLab
  2. This is a real, published pay formula, not opinion: Salary = (SF 50th-percentile benchmark x cost-of-living multiplier x role... Buffer Article · 15 min read The Next Evolution of Transparent Salaries: Our Remote-First Formula and Salary Calculator Buffer
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