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Comment by VirusNewbie | Hacker News Reader

I know some people who are fine working there. No one seems thrilled but if you're an above average engineer who is just getting by at 140k a year and suddenly you're looking at 350k a year as an SDEIII or something, that can be a life changing amount of money.

However, I think the question is, what percentage of engineers can pass the amazon interview but not the Apple/Databricks/Uber/Google/Meta ones. Because no one is picking amazon over the aforementioned companies.

However, maybe there's an opening at Amazon and not the other companies, or maybe that's your only offer. I certainly think it might be worth it for a a few years.

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> just getting by at 140k a year

Lol

It can be a life changing amount of money but not always in a good way. If you're not careful, your spending expands like a gas to fill all the available volume and you're just marching sideways towards retirement with nothing saved because it's too fun spending money.

RSUs actually help mitigate this a bit, because you're not going to qualify for a giant house/apartment with your RSU money, and most places aren't even vesting monthly so you're more likely to treat them like bonuses, rather than inflate lifestyle.

Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's probably harder than if it was just suddenly getting a giant salary.

Yeah that is such a grim caricature..

First worlders having to "just get by" with 11 thousand dollars every month. What even is this world

Assuming they’re already living in Seattle: pre tax, and supporting a family? According to a quick google, that’s ~$100k after tax, a 3BR in Seattle is ~$4k/mo so you’re left with $52k for everything else, in a HCOL area. I buy it.

Truth. I honestly don't know how most people are surviving right now.

Homelessness + loans (credit cards) are on the rise and births are on the decrease.

But to honestly answer the question, by either not living in large cities and commuting in, sharing those 3BRs, or staying home with parents. Shaving that 48k/year (post-tax) rent down to ~12k/year frees up a lot of money.

(Also if you're young, staying with your parents and saving ~100-200k in rent for a downpayment over 10 years just seems like a smart idea to me).

Are a lot of Seattle SWE jobs paying only $140k to non-juniors?

FAANG has a huge footprint in the town, you're going to have a hard time hiring people when you're paying less than half what they are.

For the first ten years of my career, I just assumed my resume would get passed over, that even though I was smart and capable, there was no point in trying to work at top tier places.

I was single and not a lavish spender so I didn't feel external pressure to try all that hard beyond having a low six figures job.

There are plenty of low prestige, mismanaged small companies that will pay low six figures and overwork people.

It's not even "first worlders", it's American software companies paying shitload of money. Try the same in Europe.

Or anywhere in America that's not a tech hub.

Hey, I really need that second Porsche for my weekend drives.

I make over 3x that and I still can't afford a Posche! kids/nannies/housing is expensive!

near slavery

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