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This question's gauche, but: given the prevalence of $400k++ comp packages for ~30-year-olds in Big Tech, why aren't there lots more "gentle[wo]man scholars"? i.e. people quitting to do non-remunerative creative projects I can think of some, but shouldn't there be thousands?

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Dan Grover

@DanGrover

Jan 28

Because you're afraid you might not get that type of job back (esp. at a senior level), with interviewing being the crapshoot it is.

Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

Replying to

@DanGrover

Interesting! Do many people in your circle express this? Big tech engineers I know mostly seem to feel the market is massively in their favor; their employer is lucky they don't jump ship to get a salary bump; etc.

2:08 AM · Jan 28, 2022Twitter Web App

Replying to

and

Definitely see this fear and agree it holds people back. If they don't have a specific creative project in mind, loss aversion for Big Tech comp kicks in. The same mindset can also make it harder for startups to hire those people away from Big Tech companies.