>Except they don't. If they cared for that they would ask for your rent and economic situation.

I think you misunderstand what "Cost of Living" actually quantifies. It is not meant to quantify your personal economic situation, and is far more than just rent. COL is meant to quantify how much it costs to afford a basic standard of living, such as the cost to buy a basic meal or afford a basic apartment. It is not meant to quantify each individual's specific economic situation, living arrangements, debts, dependents, etc.

Cost of living is difficult to accurately quantify, and the most accurate proxy is geographic location. I'm sure GitLab et al would give some adjustments to compensation based on extraneous personal factors, but it's not up to the company to hold your hand and make sure every employee is making exactly enough money to pay all of their bills. At some point that becomes the employee's responsibility.

>You could be living rent free & debt free in a high pay area and still get a higher pay than someone with dependents, debts and a high (for their area) rent.

Are you suggesting that someone who is debt free and rent free should be punished via a lower wage for their choices which led to them not being in debt? Conversely, should someone be paid a higher wage just because they made bad decisions earlier in life and have mountains of credit card debt?

As mentioned above, debt is specifically not included in COL calculations for these reasons. COL also doesn't change based on if you decide to live in a high rise condo or a camper van. Yes, if these people are doing the same work and live in the same area, someone living rent free and debt free should still get the same pay as someone with dependents and high rent. Their personal situation may be different, but their standard cost of living is the same.

And this isn't any different than any other company in the world, nor is it the business of any other company in the world to solve. I know someone who used to work at Google making a very high salary, but paid no rent and only minimal bills because he lived at his parents. And by the way, other companies adjust their pay geographically, too. A cashier at a McDonalds in rural Kansas gets less of an hourly wage than a cashier at a McDonalds in SF. This already is the norm, and though it isn't perfect, it isn't nearly as disastrous as you make it sound.

>You might as well build your class barriers out of concrete at that point.

I'm not sure how I see this is a class barrier. This is not saying "if you grew up in Compton, we will not pay you a high wage and you will never have the opportunity to move to a better area". This is saying "if you currently live in a low COL area, we will pay you accordingly. And we will pay you more if you make the decision to move somewhere with a higher COL". That is almost exactly the opposite of a barrier, as it is clearly saying we will up your pay if you choose to take on higher COL.

Many people view this as a matter of "two people performing the same work deserve equal dollar amounts". Other people (presumably like those who make the decisions at GitLab) think that "two people performing the same work deserve the equal quality of life", and the dollar amount required to obtain a standard quality of life is variable depending on where you live. Someone making $80k/year will live decently in SF, while someone making $80k/year will live an luxurious, king-like life in rural Laos. Assuming they are performing the same work, why should the Laotian enjoy a higher quality of life than the San Franciscan?