[spicyusername]

I think most other careers don't pay you enough to be capable of choosing take a 50-90% pay cut mid-career and still retire on a reasonable nest egg.

I also think working for most corporations is pretty lackluster, and after the early career honeymoon phase wears off many people start to feel quite unfulfilled.

Working with your hands, or in support of helping other people, is very intrinsically rewarding work. There are reasons society gets away with paying public school teachers so little, and only some of them have to do with the public's distain for taxes, hah.

IT professionals are typically the kinds of people who are happy to learn something new, so I'm not too surprised to see the people with the financial means, the disposition, and the mid-life crises search for a new life path.