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As remote work continues to dominate, I’m trying to understand the trends in hiring across the US/Canada (and abroad)

Of newly hired employees, what percent would you say came from a:

- Tier 1 City (ex: NYC/SF) - Tier 2 City (ex: Austin/San Diego) - Tier 3 City (ex: Anywhere not in other tiers) - Overseas (ex: Europe/Latin America/Asia)

Are you noticing that some roles tend to be recruited from certain tiers more than others? (Ex: Software developer - Tier 3 City)

How has this trend changed over time at your company?


Where did you get those tiers from? They seem pretty arbitrary.
Agreed. If Tier 1 is “better” than Tier 2, 3, etc. than the examples given present a bicoastal view of the US that I thought passed out of fashion with the new millennium. Smells of the NYC hype machine in action. Or an attempt to deflect the “doom spiral” narrative for SF.

Classifying tiers by size alone seems too “metastatic” a measure. Instead of a Tier 1 city, should we instead classify NYC or LA (or SF) as a “Stage 4” city? (Their Econ development people may not appreciate that…suggests they should have DNR tattooed on their chest.). If you mean the largest or densest or fastest growing cities, then just say that and skip the “Tier” nonsense.

Defining tiers based on the Quality of Life experienced in the city seems a more meaningful metric. Tier 1 would have the highest QoL for average residents or new hires or whatever subgroup you want. Tier 2 a little lower, etc.. A single QoL metric should reflect cost of living, hassle factor, scenic beauty, economic opportunities, cultural elements, room-to-move, time tax, climate, etc.. Or perhaps treat as a multiple criteria problem and find the efficient/non-dominated cities under those several criteria and call them Tier 1. Thus acknowledging that one person’s Tier 1 may be another’s Tier 3 or 4 given how you value the individual criterion based on what stage of life you’re in, personal preference, etc..

Many tech companies have lists of cities or regions that correspond to pay bands, usually broken into 3 or 4 different tiers.

If you feel they’re arbitrary, How would you define the tiers?

Maybe you shouldn’t band by Tiers, and instead address compensation packages based on the negatives (cost of living, hassle factors) and positives (climate, educational opportunities, cultural opportunities, ability to buy a house and start your family) quantified for each geographic unit. We can do that sort of arithmetic nowadays. Once you get past money salary as a universal metric, personal valuations do play a role, but that is the reality actually experienced by employees that simple Tiering just ignores.

Tiering is a meat axe. Do you want to see your surgeon come at you/your life with a meat axe, or a scalpel?

Surprised low CoL US Senators haven’t pushed for making residing in low CoL city/State an impacted group, making pay discrimination illegal if simply based on where you reside.

Tier 3: Boise, Idaho

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