The "why don't they just pay everyone SV salaries everywhere" argument is obviously from people who never ran businesses and are just disguisedly wishing they made more money
While probably true, this kind of argument goes both ways.
Recent events have proved, if there was any doubt left, that a lot of people can work perfectly well from home and greatly value doing so, and that both desire and performance are highly dependent on the individual. Some businesses are going to have to get used to the idea that some of the good people they'd like to hire simply won't be willing to make long, inconvenient journeys to work every day any more or to live in expensive locations to avoid them. If they decide not to offer those people competitive compensation by national standards, they may increasingly find that others will, having themselves located any centralised facilities in more economic areas.
Pricing too much by location for highly remote-capable staff is a short-sighted policy anyway. It is surely a matter of time before environmental concerns put pressure on governments to discourage unnecessary travel. That probably means higher costs for travellers one way or another, which is only going to widen the gap in favour of remote working.
While probably true, this kind of argument goes both ways.
Recent events have proved, if there was any doubt left, that a lot of people can work perfectly well from home and greatly value doing so, and that both desire and performance are highly dependent on the individual. Some businesses are going to have to get used to the idea that some of the good people they'd like to hire simply won't be willing to make long, inconvenient journeys to work every day any more or to live in expensive locations to avoid them. If they decide not to offer those people competitive compensation by national standards, they may increasingly find that others will, having themselves located any centralised facilities in more economic areas.
Pricing too much by location for highly remote-capable staff is a short-sighted policy anyway. It is surely a matter of time before environmental concerns put pressure on governments to discourage unnecessary travel. That probably means higher costs for travellers one way or another, which is only going to widen the gap in favour of remote working.
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