Software was truly truly insane for a bit there. Straight out of college, no-name CS degree, making $120, $150k (back when $120k really meant $120k)? The music had to stop on that one.
Honestly it was 10 years too late. The big innovations of the 2010 era were maturing. I’ve spent my career maintaining and tweaking those, which does next to zero for your career development. It’s boring and bloated. On the bright side I’ve made a lot of money and have no issues getting jobs so far.
Of course, that growth in wages in this sector was a contributing factor to home/rental price increases as the "market" could bear higher prices.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropol...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_...
If I took a job for ~100k in Washington, I'd live worse than I did as a PhD student in Sweden. It would basically suck. I'm not sure ~120k would make things that different.
The issue is salary expectations in the US are much higher than those in much of Western Europe despite having similar CoL.
And $120k for a new grad is only a tech specific thing. Even new grad management consultants earn $80-100k base, and lower for other non-software roles and industries.
But in UK an Ireland they get free healthcare, paid vacation, sick leave and labor protections, no?
Think they're too high? You're free to start a company and pay less.
