Should you take a pay cut if your office based job now moves to working from home?

This morning I was reading about how Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg was reviewing where his employees can work from and if they work from home , they could be paid less as they will not have the higher living expenses of Silicon Valley. And it got me thinking, as the majority of the UK has been working from home in the last couple of months, the blueprint of working can now change. People have proved that in some professions, working from home is possible. People can be equally as productive providing technology allows and some people are happier as they are spending less time commuting. On a bigger scale, it is helping our planet having less vehicles on the road and the mental well being of employees should always be paramount.

I for one have negotiated a higher salary on a job because it is further to travel and therefore I’m spending more money on fuel as well as wear & tear on a car. Paying for parking or a train fare 5 days a week, it all adds up. But if you carry on doing the same job with a few days a week working from home in this new world, should the employee take a pay cut? Because they are better off financially, simple as that. And I already have candidates coming to me saying that they'll take a lower salary if they can work from home a few days a week which I think is brilliant, showing a different way of thinking. Any business who has survived this Pandemic is under no illusion that taxes are going to raise as the economy struggles and we are all going to pay for this “free money” the government is dishing out at the moment. The economy is struggling and there are a handful of businesses that have thrived, most of us have struggled and some will continue to do so for an exceptionally long time. And if you have furloughed your employees, allowing the government to pay 80% of their salary and whether you top up the remaining 20%, playing devils advocate, someone could be on full pay for doing nothing, other than staying at home. Their outgoings have reduced significantly whilst some professions, have never worked so hard in all their lives, never sacrificed so much and I for one, am hugely indebted to these people.  So, is the time now for people who are negotiating working from home, to do their part? To say “I will help the business I work for to ensure it weathers this storm” or are they entitled to be financially better off with no questions asked? Should we all take a pay cut of £20 a month so that that money goes to the NHS and the people on the front line get paid their true worth? (I am making numbers up here by the way, it’s the principal I’m following rather than the actual sums!)

I for one have made huge financial sacrifices  to ensure that my business survives this. I guess it is the downside of running your own business. But I’ve paid my taxes, I’ve lived off virtually no income for the last 2 months and eaten into my savings ( as well as a huge amount of chocolate!) fully aware that the taxes I pay will increase so I can’t do any more other than keep calm and carry on. So therefore, should we all be looking at what we can do individually to help the company we work for, the country we live in, to survive this? I do not employ anybody but if I did, I would be making cutbacks. And I would much rather those cutbacks come from my team coming forward with ideas than sitting there pulling my hair out wondering whose lives you will turn upside down by the threat of redundancy.

I am sure the people who are now financially better off and are working from home will have a very different opinion to this. And if that were me with my normal head off, I’d be saying “what a load of old shit” but 2020 has forced me to think differently. I think it is forced many people to think differently. And whilst we’ve seen endless acts of kindness with peoples’ time, love and emotions, sometimes money does talk when you’re need to be kind.  So think before you just accept the money in your pocket, think about the person who you’re taking the money from. And think as if it’s your own business as business owners always think profit, not turnover.  And think where that money could go instead. Because it could be the difference between you having your job and a colleague not.

Email: jo@winhurstrecruitment.co.uk

Tel: 0115 975 6513

@winhurstrec