Why did you assume that everyone is motivated by money? After $100k, what difference does it make for one's happiness?
Personally, I wouldn't want such a shallow individual working in my government.
Personally, I wouldn't want such a shallow individual working in my government.
For example, the government classifies a family of four with an income of $149,100 as "low income" in San Francisco, and thus eligible for government welfare benefits.[1]
The median house price in San Francisco is currently $1.3 million.[2]
An average 776 square foot apartment (which is rather small for a family of four) rents for $3,336 a month.[3]
[1] https://www.hcd.ca.gov/sites/default/files/docs/grants-and-f...
[2] https://www.redfin.com/city/17151/CA/San-Francisco/housing-m...
[3] https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/sa...
Fairly significant depending on the location. Keep in mind that for Washington DC, the average cost of living required income is 91,388 for a family of four[0], or 76,894 after taxes.
This role pays $105k after taxes. One way to think about this is this means you have $2.3k per month in discretionary funds, versus 16.5k per month of discretionary funds for a big 5 job.
If you're considering retirement, you'll achieve your savings goals 7 times faster with big tech. That's a big difference in happiness.
If you're considering education for your children, you can afford private school or an ivy league education with big tech. With the government role you can't.
Certainly there are a select few who will look at this and be motivated to serve their country, but more and more what we're seeing is that patriotism is at a record low[1]. If we're looking to attract the best of the best, we're culling the selection pool greatly by underpaying significantly. Relying on patriotism and asceticism is a hard thing to bet on.
[0] https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/11001 [1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/394202/record-low-extremely-pro...
Probably a lot. Can't raise a family in the Silicon Valley on that which makes people unhappy.
This is far more of a cut than say at CZI.
If you said $100k and a safety net (that actually works), I would agree with you.
(Just be careful about "getting used to it" and ending up having to change your lifestyle if market conditions change.)