The U.S. Labor Market and Compensation Trends

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Now it's your turn to solve a real-life problem!

Problem Statement

Sperry-Willis Inc., an oil and gas exploration and extraction (eSIC 1300) company is headquartered in Houston. One of the cost accountants, Robert Shaw, has made a request to work remotely from Vallejo, California, where his wife, who is a chemical engineer, is being transferred. The transfer is also a promotion.

Sperry-Willis has $10 billion in annual revenue. The time difference between Houston and Vallejo is 2 hours. Sperry-Willis had many of its office employees working from home during the pandemic and has a robust, secure system to accommodate remote work.

Robert is an experienced cost accountant who is familiar with the oil business and his boss wants to keep him, but before he approves the remote work, he wants to know how Robert would be compensated given his new location. Would he be kept at HQ pay or, if less, paid the rate for Vallejo.

As the compensation analyst assigned to do the research, you need to compare salaries in Houston and Vallejo. Robert is paid at the median for his position and has 7 years of experience.