[zipy124]

The salary isn't that out of line for a mid-level developer nationwide, but yes I would expect it to be higher for the southern location. They could justify the salary if it was fully remote.

Bear in mind there is a 23.7% pension contribution from the employer, so it's a roughly £62-70k total comp for a mid-level role.

Edit: Actually though, in reality I would expect a salary bump to work in the public sector to encourage one to put up with the terrible working enviornment with all the bureaucracy.

[bfmalky]

As someone who has recently joined the civil service as a software developer I have to say the working environment in the organisation I joined is pretty great. Salary is not high, but pension, holidays, working hours and flexibility are all very good.

[zipy124]

Yes I would agree with regards to those elements of the working environment.

[philipallstar]

The pension contribution is excellent, but it doesn't help you buy a house. It would be better to offer higher salary, which the employee can still choose to pump into the pension, for flexibility.

[zipy124]

Well, a higher pension contribution means you don't have to save as much of your take home pay for when you get old, allowing you to spend more of what you earn theoretically, but I get your point yes.

The reason they can't offer the higher salary instead is government pensions are un-funded usually, hence their 20-30% contribution is actually just a commitment to pay you much much later, they don't actually put anything into a protected pot for you.