What pay cut would you accept to do something you like?
I think this describes everyone's relationship to work. If your current employer stopped paying you would you keep showing up? If the more fulfilling job stopped paying you, would you keep showing up?
Usually if I decide I want to change jobs I am looking for something that is both more fulfilling and higher pay rather than one or the other. If I did not have to work, I wouldn't.
Huge communities of people work really hard for zero money to get job satisfaction. You need look no further than many open source projects to see this, not to mention armies of volunteers at any charity shop etc.
While it is rare to find that perfect job, where you are both fulfilled and paid well, it is certainly something to hang into when you find it.
For me, I programmed for free long before anyone paid me, and I'll program for free when they stop paying me. In between I have earned dramatically lower pay working for myself, on projects I enjoy, with minimal oversight, than I would have gotten working for some corporate as a cog in the machine. I don't envy my rich Google compatriots - it would kill me to do their job.
The old cliche says if you find a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life. That's bogus. Work is still work, and I work harder than most,but the work is meaningful, satisfying, and fulfilling. (_and_ I get paid :))
To answer your question though I dug out this story I read a long time ago https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31077/when-his-project-w...
-- Schmidt's book Disciplined Minds, p 131
Petrochemicals - Creating energy, necessary for modern life and society.
Museum - Playground for the rich and tourists.
That said, a FAANG or bank would pay twice as much, at least. And I’ve deliberately avoided that out of preference for startups. So perhaps in that sense I’ve already taken a 50% cut.
And only regret it when looking at time-to-retirement projections.
Maybe for some elite (and pretty rare) roles in niches like algo trading, but I doubt the typical bank developer job pays as well as FAANG or other top tier tech companies.
Some elite hedge funds or prop trading shops could match or even vastly exceed FAANG comp, but then again, those jobs are both pretty rare, and their interviews can be difficult enough to make FAANG interviews look easy.
But about regrets: There are days that I doubt my choice too. Probably because I never experienced working at big corporations. Maybe I'm OK with them? Maybe I should go experience that for myself? But usually these doubts don't last long. And hopefully your more experience helps you never encounter these doubts! ;)
These days, I have a comfortable base of assets that generate growth/cash. Because of that, I can afford to take jobs that index better on qualities other than just pay.
Like you I do not care for my current job, but for a variety of reasons I am stuck for the next 2.
There is an old saying 'Enjoy your job and you never work a day' (because you are having fun). But if you are not meeting yours needs, then they become the golden handcuffs that keep you working because you need the gold.
Probably could have made SVP/D/ED (the next level up, I think it's referred to differently depending on bank) if I actually cared and made more of an effort. Instead I choose to use that time and energy to do more leetcode.
Slightly longer answer would also include the fact that many tech companies don't seem to want to look at someone like me for junior/mid roles. So I'm forced to compete with other seniors. And let's face it, a senior SWE at a bank or many other non-tech companies is not the equivalent of a senior SWE at a FAANG or other tech company.
30%-40% sounds like a lot. But it depends if you are sacrificing luxury or saving and retirement.
The equation I used is: income = monthly expenses + savings + retirement fund.