Kaila Caldwell

I am a journalist reporting a piece for Deel Works, Deel's B2B written editorial publication read by HR leaders, CHROs, and people managers globally. Your response can remain fully anonymous, on background, or first-name-only in the published article, whichever you prefer. No company names or identifying details are required, and I am happy to discuss how your account will be used before you share anything. The article examines companies reversing "location-blind" pay policies, the promise made to remote workers during the pandemic that where they lived would never affect what they earned. Many workers relocated to lower-cost cities, or further from company headquarters, based on that promise. The piece argues that reversal is now underway quietly, without most companies ever formally announcing it, and it explores what that reversal actually costs the workers who built their lives around the original promise. The voice I need for this piece is a worker who lived through this directly, not an HR professional or consultant describing the trend from the outside. I am looking for: someone who relocated to a lower-cost city or moved further from a company's headquarters under the understanding that pay would not be affected, and who has since seen their pay adjusted downward, been notified of a new location-based pay policy, or faced pressure to relocate back. I am not looking for: HR professionals, compensation consultants, or recruiters speaking generally about this trend rather than their own direct experience. Questions I would like to ask: When did you first learn your pay might be affected by where you live, and how were you told, an email, a meeting, or a policy update you found on your own? What decisions did you make, relocating, signing a lease, turning down another job, based on the understanding that your location would not affect your pay? What was your reaction in the moment you learned the policy was changing or your pay was being adjusted? Did you push back, ask questions, or try to negotiate? What happened? Looking back, what do you wish your employer had done differently? Feel free to respond anonymously, or reach out directly for a confidential conversation before deciding how much you want to share.

I am a journalist reporting a piece for Deel Works, Deel's B2B written editorial publication read by HR leaders, CHROs, and people managers globally. Your response may be quoted directly, by name and title, in the published article, unless you request otherwise. The article examines comp drift: the growing gap between what a role is priced at and what the job actually requires, now that AI has changed the day-to-day work inside many roles faster than compensation systems can track. A financial analyst in 2022 and a financial analyst in 2026 may be doing fundamentally different work, but most companies are still pricing and leveling the 2022 version. The piece argues this is quietly becoming a retention problem: companies that catch the drift early can recalibrate, and companies that don't risk losing their most productive people to competitors who've figured out how to price what they actually do. The voice I need for this piece is someone who works hands-on with the actual mechanics of pricing or leveling a role, not someone speaking about compensation trends in the abstract. I am looking for: compensation analysts, total rewards specialists, people ops leads, HR business partners with direct compensation responsibility, or independent compensation consultants, in-house or advising multiple clients. I am not looking for: recruiters, general HR generalists without hands-on compensation or leveling responsibility, career coaches, or vendors pitching a product or platform. Questions I would like to ask: Can you point to a specific role where the actual day-to-day work outpaced the job description, level, or pay band attached to it? What was the role, and what changed? Was there a specific moment, an exit, a complaint, a hiring struggle, that made that mismatch impossible to ignore? Has AI specifically driven that kind of drift in roles you have seen? If so, how fast, months rather than years? What is the real cost when this goes unaddressed? Do you lose the person, lose productivity, or something else you have actually seen play out? What would it actually take, structurally, to catch this kind of drift before it costs you someone good? Please include your name, title, company, and a brief bio with your response.