nVisium Blog Why We Pay People Fairly Regardless of Location

In pre-pandemic life, many companies invested heavily in building sprawling campuses where employees would proudly spend their working hours and oftentimes - the better part of their lives. Office parks were filled with restaurants, dry cleaners, gyms, tiny amusement parks, elaborate coffee setups, and bottomless beer kegs. They offered relocation bonuses and dangled massive signing bonuses to lure candidates to their physical locations. When the pandemic hit, these places became time capsules; relics of the past world we lived in that were seldom used. Companies that were opposed to remote employees had to either embrace it immediately - or die.As it became clear that the pandemic wouldn't end overnight, many people moved from these locations to lower-cost, less congested areas. As they left the more expensive cities they were once recruited to, many companies began to revamp their pay scales based on an employee's location. If you moved from San Francisco to a farm in the Midwest, your employer may have adjusted your salary. To the employer, this became another opportunity to cut corners and save a few extra bucks. To the employee, this was - and still is - unfair. An employee still brought the same skills and experience that they were hired for, yet were asked to take a reduction in pay because you moved to a suburban area to improve your family's quality of life. That's messed up.nVisium was a remote-first employer before the pandemic hit, and we have always been opposed to location-based pay scales. As our company has grown from a few people located in the D.C. area to a geographically diverse company of 30-plus, we've had to carefully consider how we manage hiring, retention, and growth for our teammates. We hire the best people regardless of where they live - and we pay them what they're worth. We believe that we pay for the person and the value they bring to the team. A top tier candidate's skills aren't diminished because they don't live in a major city. Why penalize people who don't love the urban life?While we have a physical office in the D.C. area, nVisium has always been - and will remain - a remote-first employer. Our consultants have historically traveled minimally, and we've emphasized that we want our team to invest in themselves professionally, as well as keep themselves mentally and physically fit. We offer the entire company a monthly reimbursement for fitness, phone, and internet expenses. We do our small part in reducing the carbon footprint generated by our team by reducing unnecessary travel to and from the office. We've built an inclusive culture that focuses on maintaining transparency and a healthy level of personal flexibility for our team. We value your work-life balance and your mental health. Your job should enable you to live the life you want. Your job isn't your life.In the modern era where location is less important than ever, if you're looking for the best people available, pay them what they deserve regardless of where they live. And if you don't, someone else will.