I've yet to see a useful master's degree. Especially in the US and in STEM it seems like master's has just been a gate to the next thing.

I have a master's and one of the biggest reasons behind my education was the opportunity in the US after the master's. Sole benefit of it has been the OPT (~3 years work visa). I learned small things here and there during my education but as an SWE I don't use them at all and I forgot the rest of my classes. I wrote a thesis but it was nowhere near a PhD level research.

Additionally higher entry level areas such as ML and AI often require PhD so getting a master's is not getting your foot in the door.