I was contacted by a recruiter for a mid-sized software company abroad, who wanted someone with an “international background” (i.e. bilingual, worked in large international companies, and knows the market in multiple geographies) for a senior management role. Given that I've always wanted to travel to this country, I agreed to the interview. However, given that this is not as simple as accepting a job 2 located blocks down the road, as it involved moving to a new country + all the admin, lifestyle and financial hassle associated with it, I wanted to know what the compensation package is so I don't waste anyone's time, mine or the company's. I was not going to move to another country unless the compensation is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than what I'm making right now. The recruiter was very reluctant on giving me ANY info on this, but finally mentioned in passing (probably by accident) that “some foreigners like me were making $XX”, a number that I was very satisfied with.
Naively I went through one round of phone interview, plus another video interview with the VP (my direct boss). The VP was surprisingly honest, saying that this company's culture was “very fast paced, don't WFH, and people are not hesitant to work very hard and constantly do overtime, given the innovative work culture blablabla”, so basically I'm dealing with a FAANG-like company minus the WFH perks. Big red flag, but I thought if the compensation was insanely good I'd consider it. Since everything else went well with the interview I brought up the topic of salary again, demanding to know some numbers, at least a range, so I can decide if I should spend more effort in the interview process, as these aren't your simple half-hour interviews. The recruiter was once again very reluctant to give out any info, but finally cracked after I persistently asked.
They're offering basically 50%+ below the average US wages for this position.
What the actual f? This is not a mom and pop's shop. This is a multinational tech company with almost 2000 employees, looking to get foreign consultants to help them with market expansion, yet they're offering 50%+ less than what we'd make if we stayed in North America. Yes I'm totally going to abandon my life in Canada making a ton more money in a job that is much less stressful, to go to a new country to help out your for-profit company for 50% less wages + much higher living expenses. What kind of idiot would take this job?
Not as antiwork as most other posts around here but the audacity of this company is seriously astounding from a logical perspective.