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50k*12=600k, equivalent to 1-3 SWE employees; practically not even a single small team. It's nothing.

Individual contributors see these numbers and act like it's some huge amount of money but in the grander scheme of things when you're approving budgets for multiple teams of senior SWEs and other roles, it doesn't even register.

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I’ve seen ICs lose promotions they were on course for and get wrecked on their bonuses for losing track of a single $50k/mo cluster in AWS and leaving it running though unused. At a FAANG company.

So, ICs who sweat that kind of waste are right to do so. If management sees that someone thinks 50k/mo is no big deal to squander, bet your ass there’s a good chance they’ll take at least a month’s worth out of that person’s annual bonus since that kind of money matters so little to them.

Sure, that money shouldn't be wasted - but thinking it's a significant part of the budget is misguided.

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