I've had a very different experience here in Sydney. Though the pay is not as high as being in the US, it's decent. The lifestyle is good. The people are great.

I've had a very different experience here in Sydney. Though the pay is not as high as being in the US, it's decent. The lifestyle is good. The people are great. The tech punches above it's weight. There is a good focus on success through numbers, vs too much talk in the US (my impression anyway). When you're talking about contracts, that makes me think you're working for a consultancy, or similar job shop. That's not where the good work is. A "tech backwater"??? I'm a bit jaded because I worked at CSIRO, met a few Atlassian people before I moved here (and before it was big), saw friends and co-workers become early hires at Canva, OneLogin, Propeller, etc etc. With the new tech we've been working on in the health space, my co-founder and I were surprised to discover one of the bigger BCI companies does all their R&D in Sydney! We commented on how big things are quietly being done in Sydney. But hey, our old boss invented WiFi, so we are looking at things through that lens. Australia punches above it's weight for tech, perhaps you're just not in the right circles.