Why Remote Work Can Change Tech Salaries During The Pandemic

The lifestyle change was constant during the coronavirus. Since the beginning of the pandemic, all activities in the world are done differently to prevent further infections. This disease caused serious problems in the economy; many companies went bankrupt, some had to cut wages, others lay off their employees, and some were able to grow like never before. Among the companies that had positive figures during the coronavirus crisis, the tech industry stands out.

Remote work was the preferred method for companies and schools to start the “new normal”. This style of work was only possible thanks to the innovation and investment of tech companies to create better communication platforms. But how did remote work affect the salary of employees in this industry? To understand it, you should pay attention to the following points:

More Job Offers?

The year 2020 has been the year of the digital revolution. Hundreds of companies moved into the tech world. According to Forbes, 70 percent of American companies were in the process of going digital in 2019, and by 2020, 21 percent of those companies had already completed the process.

The more digital companies there are, the more remote work they will do. This is why these startups may be looking for staff in many parts of the world. Although in the United States the demand for tech talent is still very high, the supply is low compared to the available work.

With the coronavirus, more tech workers visited freelance websites. On these platforms, salaries are agreed between the client and the freelancer. In the United States, a programmer can charge $40 per hour, while in places like Venezuela, India, or Egypt, the salaries can be much lower. In the US, a mobile app developer earns, on average, over $104,000 a year according to ZipRecruiter, making this profession an incredibly lucrative career.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased demand for mobile apps, as more and more physical activities are restricted and moved online. This means that mobile app developers will continue to be in high demand, with their salaries increasing as well.

Low Cost of Living

During the pandemic, thousands of employees of the main tech hubs in the US decided to do remote work from cheaper cities. Therefore, the coronavirus emptied avenues and companies in big cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, or Seattle. The cost of living is an important issue in determining wages. Tech companies pay wages according to the cost of living, which includes expenses like electricity, water, gas, fuel, food, and housing. These services can be 100 percent more expensive than in smaller towns in America.
Remote work was the perfect excuse to return home, but tech workers did not take into account the decisions of the bosses in these actions. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, said that all employees who moved to cheaper cities could experience pay cuts.

Privileged Demand

Being an expert in a tech career, such as mobile app development, was the most valuable thing for many people in the United States during the pandemic. As many companies closed, the tech industry began recruiting new talent to create better digital services, thus being able to offer innovative systems for the millions of people in quarantine.
Bootcamps took advantage of this demand. These intensive online courses received thousands and thousands of students in careers such as cybersecurity, coding, and mobile app development. After completing the course, these graduates have an (almost) secure position in important tech companies in the country. According to Career Karma, companies like Eventbrite, Granicus, and Progressive Insurance are the ones that hire the most bootcamp grads.

Less Effort?

In an interview for the Wall Street Journal in September 2020, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings said that remote work has negative effects on employees and that many people find it difficult to work this way. These statements allow us to analyze the following two questions: Does remote work require the same effort as traditional work? Should a company pay the same salary to employees who work from home?

With that debate, we can see the difficult context of this situation for many people. Some companies pay less to employees who do tasks from home. This directly affects the general salary of tech employees and all jobs in general. Twitter and Facebook, for example, plan to continue remote work forever, but what will the salary conditions be? In time, we will know.

Conclusion:

This article shows that even the strongest companies struggled during the pandemic. The virus affected the way we see reality. This context can be an instrument to learn to handle similar situations in the future; to learn how to prevent global crises from affecting the economic stability of companies and employees.