> I dont know why any engineers put up with this anywhere in industry ... Coding is barely interesting enough to get paid to do it.

If the second part of the above is how you feel then I totally understand the first half.

Personally, after decades in the industry I still enjoy coding in my own time at least a few hours a week. For many of those who feel like me, we don't "put up with this". We do it by choice, independent of any regard for the impact or otherwise on employment prospects, and class it as a down-time leisure pursuit.

For myself, what I do for a day job I'd probably still do even if I had an independent income (though I'd choose more interesting projects).