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I was looking at Jobs in Dec'20 that offered relocation as I wanted to move out of my home country (India).

I found a decent job that would relocate me to Malaysia (KL) and my wife and I figured it would be a good experience to spend a couple of years there.

During pay negotiation, my asking number was met for KL but they said since it could be a while before it happens, I could start remote. The caveat was that I will be under a different (local) payroll till that happens and my salary would be different. This number was ~10% lower than the KL number and they said they cannot do more.

I thought about it at figured it is only going to be a 2-3 months (which was the expected relocation timeline at the time) and decided to accept and join.

It has now been 6 months + and relocation is not a realistic possibility till the end of this year. I feel like I am missing out on the actual pay that I wanted as the temporary arrangement is stretching far too long.

How do I revisit this discussion? In hindsight it was foolish of me to accept a lower remote pay without strict timelines to relocation, but how can I correct this mistake now? I want to approach my higher ups and ask to pay the agreed final salary instead of the temp arrangement.

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    Is the cost of living in Malaysia (KL) about 10% higher than the cost of living in your current city in India ? If yes, then maybe, your company is thinking that because you are not in Malaysia yet, they are trying to save 10% of the payment ?
    – Job_September_2020
    Jun 13, 2021 at 4:56
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    @Job_September_2020 On the basis of metrics I see on the internet, yes. But I live in the HCOL city in India and from what I have been able to gather, expenses are typically in the same ballpark as in KL.
    – Workplace Stooge
    Jun 13, 2021 at 4:58
  • Do you think you could get a job paying 10% more locally? In other words, are they paying you around market rate for your current area or are they paying you less?
    – Kat
    Jun 14, 2021 at 15:40

1 Answer 1

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Ask your manager for a timeframe on the relocation. You need this basic information before anything else. You can work out what to do from the response.

If they cannot give a timeframe then ask them about the remote pay and let them know you originally agreed to 10% more. Usually a discussion will lead to a compromise or resolution, everyone should be aware that there is a delay. The delay may well be unknown but you need to have the discussion to clear things up and get matters moving towards an acceptable outcome..

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  • I have been trying to get some details on this for the past few weeks. My manager has been supportive and has been bringing it up with the relevant departments. He says they should start sourcing documents from me soon and I should be able to see movement in 3 months but its all too vague at the moment.
    – Workplace Stooge
    Jun 13, 2021 at 5:06
  • Then you can either wait 3 months or give an ultimatum, depends how badly you need the job and the 10%. Personally I'd give my notice and see what happens if confident I could get another job that pays more. India is in a bad situation travel-wise at the moment. Unsure what the job market is like.
    – Kilisi ♦
    Jun 13, 2021 at 5:13
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    I am leaning towards the same. The jobs market is still hot here in India, the only downside at the moment is that jobs offering relocation are getting harder to come by. So I might have to stay put and look for options locally or pin my dreams on relocating with my current employer.
    – Workplace Stooge
    Jun 13, 2021 at 5:35

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