It's not just kinda low, it's ridiculously low. You are not gonna get any decent quant engineers at that rate unless you are scouting in eastern Europe exclusively.
If you think this is low, you should check out some of the insanity in the US and Canada. Today I read one for a senior dev, $45,000 USD!
I just had a CEO reach out to me and offer an informal interview for a developer position that pays $50k in the US. Then he said he would consider me even though he would prefer someone with a computer science degree. I politely declined.
At least he offered a salary. I once was offered only equity in a non-formed dream corporation with the promise that "once we have a product"...
True but it offered no benefits and $50k per year isn’t enough for a single individual to live in my town with a marketplace healthcare plan and a 1 bedroom apartment. So it’s definitely not enough for a family man.
I imagine he hasn’t had any CS grads apply to work for $50k and no benefits so that’s why he reached out to me on LinkedIn. I’m no CS grad but I’m capable of making far more that $50k fortunately.