I've exaggerated only a little about js frameworks. I've had a PhD from Geoff Hintons group do manual QA once for a few months. Far worse things occur on the re

I've exaggerated only a little about js frameworks. I've had a PhD from Geoff Hintons group do manual QA once for a few months. Far worse things occur on the regular, nobody really cares about highly theoretical concerns such as "waste of potential" in practice. Some FAANGs even have a policy of hiring talent just to deny it to competition. Figure out what they'll do after you hire them, no real planning on that part. However, the larger point remains: people in science labs for some reason stay in the lab. Why? Maybe they just like complaining or suffering? Maybe so, but if they want to - they can quit any time, but they for some reason remain. I had a friend from Fermilab who left to do quant finance on wallst, only to return to physics because he found finance boring, even though very well paid. Much better paid than FAANG. You just happen to like what you are working on at FAANG. Not everyone does, and plenty burn out and leave the field entirely.