A Dubai-based employer recently shared the story of his Nepalese software engineer struggling to navigate the scale of his $100,000 annual salary. In a viral LinkedIn post, Timothy Highnam revealed that the employee, hired three months ago through a standard remote process, was stunned when the first paycheck hit his account.
“He told me it was more than his entire extended family makes in six months—mom, dad, wife, brother, sister, their partners combined,” Highnam wrote. “He earns it in one month. It’s just sitting there. I don’t know what to do with it.”
Teaching the Value of Money Beyond Numbers
Highnam described how he had to guide the engineer through basic personal spending, starting with a simple lesson: buying flowers for his wife. “When someone grows up counting every dollar, frivolous spending feels impossible. Because when you’ve never had abundance, abundance feels like a mistake,” Highnam explained. He encouraged his employee to spend $5 on flowers, helping him understand that money could bring joy and improve daily life.
Over the past year, Highnam has mentored the engineer on practical uses of wealth: choosing better food, sleeping on slightly nicer bedding, and embracing small luxuries without guilt. “Sometimes the hardest part of paying people what they’re worth is that they don’t believe they’re worth it yet,” he wrote.
Netizens Applaud the Human Side of Global Pay
The LinkedIn post sparked widespread reactions online. One commenter noted, “The payback you get for paying people what they are worth is 100x the 10% most people will save by nickel and diming the recruitment process.” Another shared, “The mental cost of spending $10 on a small thing was staggering because of what that money could do for a family living on $5/day back home.”
Highnam’s story highlights the human side of global remote hiring, where talent and merit often outpace local financial norms, and teaching someone to understand abundance becomes as important as paying it.
“He told me it was more than his entire extended family makes in six months—mom, dad, wife, brother, sister, their partners combined,” Highnam wrote. “He earns it in one month. It’s just sitting there. I don’t know what to do with it.”
Teaching the Value of Money Beyond Numbers
Highnam described how he had to guide the engineer through basic personal spending, starting with a simple lesson: buying flowers for his wife. “When someone grows up counting every dollar, frivolous spending feels impossible. Because when you’ve never had abundance, abundance feels like a mistake,” Highnam explained. He encouraged his employee to spend $5 on flowers, helping him understand that money could bring joy and improve daily life.
Over the past year, Highnam has mentored the engineer on practical uses of wealth: choosing better food, sleeping on slightly nicer bedding, and embracing small luxuries without guilt. “Sometimes the hardest part of paying people what they’re worth is that they don’t believe they’re worth it yet,” he wrote.
Netizens Applaud the Human Side of Global Pay
The LinkedIn post sparked widespread reactions online. One commenter noted, “The payback you get for paying people what they are worth is 100x the 10% most people will save by nickel and diming the recruitment process.” Another shared, “The mental cost of spending $10 on a small thing was staggering because of what that money could do for a family living on $5/day back home.”
Highnam’s story highlights the human side of global remote hiring, where talent and merit often outpace local financial norms, and teaching someone to understand abundance becomes as important as paying it.
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