Maybe we should rephrase OP's question as "How to attract perm Snr Engs when there are so many companies where there is: 1. Interesting work. The day to day is

Maybe we should rephrase OP's question as "How to attract perm Snr Engs when there are so many companies where there is: 1. Interesting work. The day to day is not a slog. ..." You get the idea :-)