Luckily I don't live in the Bay Area or California. I live outside of a major city and just deal with a longer commute most times. I'd guess the super inflated

Luckily I don't live in the Bay Area or California. I live outside of a major city and just deal with a longer commute most times. I'd guess the super inflated Bay Area pay is likely going to deflate but the average global pay for SWEs will inflate as those companies start looking for people who can add the same value as a local employee for a reasonable price. Where I work we've been hiring engineers from outside the US recently and we've been giving them US-like salaries which are massive jumps from previous local jobs they had in their country. I'm assuming other scrappy companies who are in a growth phase right now are doing the same. This is likely especially the case if you need to wisely allocate capital.