In every way I think about it, this difference in salary seems justified. I can't imagine inspecting slaughterhouses is very fun or rewarding, but it's super important for society.
> I can't imagine inspecting slaughterhouses is very fun or rewarding, but it's super important for society.
But I can think of all sorts of jobs that are more important to society than working on some random doomed-to-fail SaaS that won't pay remotely near that.
research is a sporadic discipline. A top tier researcher working on a choice problem with relatively predictable returns ( or at least the perception of predictability ) will make substantially more than someone working on a problem of debatable business value or with lower odds of success.
In the case of research positions, the funding situation has oversaturated the market in most entry level positions - turning negotiation and career advancement into a trial by fire.