[_exnk]

I took a 15-20% pay cut to move to a town that had college and high school friends. I missed out on a lot of the real bleeding edge type technical challenges that SV has and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills trying to drive change in our organization. However, I never have a problem unwinding after work and am far from burnout. Having this support structure here is probably worth that 15-20%.

Edit: I should note that I really hate mixing personal & work and that I have very few 'friendships' in the workplace that I take outside of work.

[overcast]

I did the same, stayed in Upstate New York after college, my commute is 5 minutes, traffic is low, zero stress, travel the world on company money, tons of good food, and drinks, I go home for lunch. I think about what I "missed" going to the west coast grind, but now that I'm older, I realize I favor low stress / getting plenty of sleep, over working long hours and long commutes to work on bigger tech. Plus this affords me the time to work on all of my side projects, which is what really gives me pleasure. I don't think I'll regret in my final days, that I wasn't able to work more for someone else.

The ONLY caveat I can think of, is if I was offered something very unique. Something progressing humanity. But slaving away for another X for X, isn't going to happen.

[argyleaf]

Totally hear you.

I'm living in a small college-town-adjacent city in rural New England and though I occasionally have pangs of desire for the SV life of some college friends, working for an established company that is not a historic software powerhouse makes stress super manageable, makes me a big fish in a small pond, gives me time to hack on side projects, and opportunity to perfect my hobbies (wood-fired pottery, cooking, and yoga). I took what feels like a big pay cut but cost of living compared to BOS, SV, SEA, or NYC at least zeros that out.

Of course there are problems where adopting technologies/best-practices, hiring a team, or speed of development is like pushing molasses up a sand dune, but leaving that at the door at the end of the day is worth it to me.

Will that balance change? Who knows. The future is hard to predict, but right now it makes a lot of sense to me.

[user68858788]

I'd gladly take a pay cut to work somewhere I enjoy, at a company that cares about employees. Unfortunately I have student loans taking $2500 a month, and a disabled family member to take care of. The next five years at this huge tech company is going to be hell. I just hope that when I can afford to quit I still have my soul.