[akaike]

I believe it's primarily because companies with such high requirements are not on par with big players like Apple or SpaceX. Yet, they seek highly skilled individuals —who could secure better-paid positions elsewhere, to dedicate multiple days merely to apply to their organization, which is relatively insignificant compared to others. Why would someone with high-level skills even consider wasting their time on such a task when the potential salary doesn't match what they could earn elsewhere? For those with exceptional abilities, time is money, and this essentially amounts to unpaid time wasted. These requirements are just out of touch with the reality.

[pc_edwin]

These kinds of takes really rubs me the wrong way. Its basically saying "X doesn't make sense to me so it must be wrong therefore it shouldn't exist".

In reality, people (especially the exceptional kind) have all sorts of seemingly unintuitive motivations.

It bears repeating that these are not low skilled unsophisticated people in untenable situations vulnerable to coercion. They are the opposite of that in every way possible.

[steveklabnik]

It is true that not everyone is going to find the salary or process works for them, even if they are fantastic engineers. However, we have found that many people do find it compelling. Not everyone is purely looking at base salary as a reason to take a job. As mentioned elsewhere, I took a pay cut for this job, and am happy with my decision.

[sunshowers]

My goal in life is not to make the greatest amount of money possible. Mission, vision, values, culture, peer group—these matter a lot to me as well. I also have been lucky to have enough saved, and can take risks for something I believe in.

(I currently work at Oxide, having taken a pay cut.)