Plenty of dev jobs are as you describe, but not all of them! For example, right now I'm working for a non-profit. Meaningful work, smart colleagues, and a fair

Plenty of dev jobs are as you describe, but not all of them! For example, right now I'm working for a non-profit. Meaningful work, smart colleagues, and a fair bit of agency. It doesn't pay as well as a fancy tech company, but I get by. You should also check out groups that are more niche. For example, a friend of mine is part of the Copenhagen user group for Extreme Programming. That's a method that's focused on a good developer experience. And in my experience, niche methods and languages tend to be used more at non-awful companies. So stay away from the big, boring companies, or at least the boring parts of them. Look for small, independent groups with clear purposes and close connections to the users.