Cost of living adjustments make no economic sense, but that doesnt mean that peopler remotely should get the same income as people that work in-office.
It is very easy to find out how much employees charge in the US, but not so easy for remote. You can find remote workers from oversees at 30U$S, while engineers in SF make 70~80U$S on-site.
Also remoting as a contractor, when it includes differences in benefits and costs, compound: no lunches, office space, etc is very valuable to an employee and costly to the company.
OTOH, the employees that say that they should be able to make the same money working remotely because they provide roughly the same value really do not understand how fierce the competition for remote is, and how low their productivity, percieved or not, can get from that switch.
It is very easy to find out how much employees charge in the US, but not so easy for remote. You can find remote workers from oversees at 30U$S, while engineers in SF make 70~80U$S on-site.
Also remoting as a contractor, when it includes differences in benefits and costs, compound: no lunches, office space, etc is very valuable to an employee and costly to the company.
OTOH, the employees that say that they should be able to make the same money working remotely because they provide roughly the same value really do not understand how fierce the competition for remote is, and how low their productivity, percieved or not, can get from that switch.