> I don't even know what the baseline is for satisfying programming jobs. For myself, it's always been about the team I was a part of. When you are part of a t

> I don't even know what the baseline is for satisfying programming jobs. For myself, it's always been about the team I was a part of. When you are part of a team that takes pride in their work, and they perform well together, supporting each other, learning from each other, etc - no "prima donnas", and they all have fun doing it - it leads to a good day of work. I'm lucky in that for most places I have worked - from the first shop that took me in, to my current employer - this has been the case. I can only think of a couple of places I worked where that wasn't entirely the case; both came with excess politics, and other stress that I just didn't (and still don't) understand. I stuck out with it at both, but I'm glad I'm no longer a part of either. One thing I do know and understand - this comes from someone who started their software engineering career when they were 18 years old, and now I'm pushing 50 - every place I have worked that I have had this "good team quality" has been a small employer, usually with fewer than 50 employees. My current position, there are fewer than 20 employees. No - I don't make, have never made, and likely never will make "FAANG" money - but I'm not stressed either, and I make enough to keep a roof over my family's head, the lights on, and food in the pantry. I'm content, and if an opportunity comes up for a FAANG-money type position - I will have to look long and hard at it, before making that leap - because I feel that it might come with costs that just don't make sense to me any longer. I'd rather have a more "basic" salary and little stress, than a lot of money but stress out the door due to a myriad of reasons in such a workplace. That isn't to say that's inevitable, but I've just found that as the employers I've worked for were larger, the less my satisfaction with going in and the job overall.