I know that HN is basically an SV FAANG echo chamber, so when I read a question like this I assume it’s asked from that standpoint. This world where someone graduates from Waterloo, comes to SV and gets a job immediately making six figures with a seven figure stock future when the company makes it. The tech world is so much bigger than that. I’ve been in tech since the mid 90s. I bring home a base salary of 190K and get a nice COL every year and a decent bonus if the company does well. I’ve been at this company 21 years. A nice, simple, life of 40hr work weeks, working from home, but will try to go in every Wednesday to see the rest of the team. This to me is the real world of tech, and I’m among a few hundred of devs like me in Atlanta just enjoying our Staff Software jobs. So when I hear about devs hating that they no longer get overpaid I just have to laugh. I think the industry will be better if we get back to people doing it for the love of the craft instead of getting that big paycheck to brag about. A lot of my neighbors are PHDs working at the CDC, DOE or FDA. They aren’t enjoying life at the moment. There is not magical degree/job. Find something you enjoy instead of being so caught up in the money. Glad I am a decade or less away from retirement, as the past decade of over privileged devs has made this profession a joke.