The key facts

  • For fully remote work, candidates are more often willing to give up 5–10% of their salary; for hybrid, considerably less
  • Savings on transport and food may offset the pay cut, but expenses should be calculated individually
  • The main risk for beginners is a lack of feedback and hands-on training

When a lower salary is justified

Agreeing to a lower salary in exchange for remote work can be justified if the savings on commuting and other office expenses offset the difference. Gazeta.Ru was told this by Alexey Chikhachev, managing partner of the HR agency A2. According to him, for a fully remote format candidates are more often willing to give up 5–10% of their salary, whereas for a hybrid with one or two days at home the financial concessions are considerably smaller — many already see it as a standard condition.

A sample calculation

The expert gave an example of two offers: 100,000 rubles before tax in an office and 90,000 for remote work. At a personal income tax rate of 13%, the difference in take-home pay is 8,700 rubles. If office work requires about 4,000 rubles for transport and another 5,000–7,000 for meals away from home, the savings may offset the pay cut. At the same time, Chikhachev stressed that expenses should be calculated individually: at home, food does not become free either. Time also matters: with two hours of commuting daily, about 40 hours are freed up over 20 working days.

Risks and paperwork

The expert named the main risk for beginners as the lack of feedback and hands-on training: before accepting an offer, it is worth finding out how mentoring, performance evaluation and promotion of remote employees are organized. He recommended that the remote format be fixed in the employment contract, and also to check the provision of equipment and the procedure for compensating expenses when using one's own hardware and communications. In Chikhachev's view, a lower salary is justified when the benefit is clear, the terms are reliably documented, and the format does not close off opportunities for professional growth. Earlier, as the outlet notes, it was reported that employers have begun demanding attentiveness and responsibility from candidates more often.