Like I said elsewhere in this discussion, I disagree. Of course, salary is very important, but I (and many people I know) would easily choose (and have chosen) a lower salary for any combination of these perks:
- Work fewer hours
- Work from anywhere
- Work in a specific location
- Work in a certain environment
- Work in a specific kind of organization
- Work with specific technologies
- etc.
People are very different and have very different wishes and needs. Salary isn't always priority #1.
I think #1 is mostly a pay issue. If two companies pay the same and one expects more hours, they don't pay the same.
(note, I'd also take a small hourly cut to work fewer hours a week, but as far as I can tell, the paycut I would need to take to do that is so large that I'm better off working a few years on and then taking six months or a year off and eating the tax and career disadvantages of that)
For most people in my area, #2 and #3 are also mostly pay issues. Like #1, it's not entirely pay, but the most common reason I've heard for people wanting to work places other than here (I'm in silicon valley, as you'd expect from someone trying to maximize salary) is that it's less expensive to live almost anywhere else in the world.
- Work fewer hours
- Work from anywhere
- Work in a specific location
- Work in a certain environment
- Work in a specific kind of organization
- Work with specific technologies
- etc.
People are very different and have very different wishes and needs. Salary isn't always priority #1.