That comes across as sour grapes reasoning, have you actually spent any time working for one of them? If so please forgive my assumption, but your points depen

That comes across as sour grapes reasoning, have you actually spent any time working for one of them? If so please forgive my assumption, but your points depend on a couple of huge assumptions. Why are you convinced there are no roles as these companies for people who want to make a difference, or that everyone feels like a cog in a machine? These companies are not my cup of tea at the moment, but I know your assumptions are wrong for a fact. Proof by counterexample only requires one data point, and I've been there and seen people who share your ethos and make that kind of money. This is not to say you can't find any number of people there that feel their jobs are thankless, insignificant, life force draining prospects. But we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people, and there are a variety of experiences people have. What percentage of them have you asked to be certain it's necessary to give up hundreds of thousands of dollars? I can imagine a more productive interpretation of your post, which may or not actually match your opinion, that goes like this: Those attributes are difficult to find in general at companies large and small. If you're fortunate enough to find a job that has them, think carefully before giving them up to make a few bucks more.