[colmvp]

Not the OP but as ex-designer, the pay is mediocre and the best clients most designers would like to work on (i.e. creative, interesting) don't pay very much. I know a lot of small studios that produced beautiful work and won awards, but didn't make amazing revenue, which resulted in having to keep the staff small and the pay for themselves relatively low. They always have to take giant, boring and sometimes difficult clients to keep the lights on.

All in all, the vast majority of my friends switched to FAANG so they could earn good money after years slaving away at agencies. They don't love the work but the pay makes up for it.