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I've increasingly become aware that I'm not at all like many here. I don't really care about my salary, as long as it's enough to live on. I don't live to work

I've increasingly become aware that I'm not at all like many here. I don't really care about my salary, as long as it's enough to live on. I don't live to work - I work to live. I love my job, and give it 110% (and I don't even count in binary when I say that), but at the end of the day, it doesn't define me. It's a means to an end. I believe in the company and what we're building, and as such I'll stay until I retire. I'm not going to jump ship over pay.

xtracto 5y ago
I think it's a matter of culture. I learned since I was a kid that the work culture in the US was crazy competitive. In addition to that later I learned that the Silicon Valley work culture was very strong compared to the average US . For someone from Mexico (parable of Mexican fisherman and investment banker) it all looked extremely stressing. After working in Germany and France for a bit, I realized that there are other cultures that value personal well being and work life balance way more than money. In the eyes of ultra-competitive cultures they may look lazy. But it's just that they have different priorities.
freedom2099 5y ago
I am absolutely like you in this! Being at my current company for 10 years and I am not really planning to leave ever! The job is fun! Has an excellent work life balance! The salary is good enough to live a more than comfortable life! Why should I chase higher compensation for the sake of it? More money won’t make me happier!
trowawee 5y ago
I think there's a bit of a false dichotomy here (in your comment, and in a number of other comments here). The choice in tech isn't between "good life, low pay" and "bad life, good pay". I can almost guarantee, in the US, if you are not already pulling down a total comp >350k, that you can find a job that will both pay you more and keep a good quality of life. I can also almost guarantee that, unless you work for one of the tiny handful of companies that are super aggressive about keeping comp in line with the market, you will never get an internal raise that will match what you can get on the market every two years. Personally, I hop about every two years. Work-life balance is super important to me, and I do not invest myself overly in my job. I have consistently scored 30-40% raises on those hops. The absolute best raise I've ever gotten internally was 14% and my boss (probably the best boss I've ever had) had to go to war for it. Even including that 14% raise and a 9% raise offered at an earlier job in similar circumstances (i.e. active fear of losing headcount after people started leaving), my average internal raise is still only around 7%. If you aren't moving, you're leaving a substantial amount of money on the table. That can be justified, but quality of life is not the justification that a lot of folks here seem to think it is.

xtracto 5y ago

I think it's a matter of culture. I learned since I was a kid that the work culture in the US was crazy competitive. In addition to that later I learned that the Silicon Valley work culture was very strong compared to the average US . For someone from Mexico (parable of Mexican fisherman and investment banker) it all looked extremely stressing. After working in Germany and France for a bit, I realized that there are other cultures that value personal well being and work life balance way more than money. In the eyes of ultra-competitive cultures they may look lazy. But it's just that they have different priorities.

freedom2099 5y ago

I am absolutely like you in this! Being at my current company for 10 years and I am not really planning to leave ever! The job is fun! Has an excellent work life balance! The salary is good enough to live a more than comfortable life! Why should I chase higher compensation for the sake of it? More money won’t make me happier!

trowawee 5y ago

I think there's a bit of a false dichotomy here (in your comment, and in a number of other comments here). The choice in tech isn't between "good life, low pay" and "bad life, good pay". I can almost guarantee, in the US, if you are not already pulling down a total comp >350k, that you can find a job that will both pay you more and keep a good quality of life. I can also almost guarantee that, unless you work for one of the tiny handful of companies that are super aggressive about keeping comp in line with the market, you will never get an internal raise that will match what you can get on the market every two years. Personally, I hop about every two years. Work-life balance is super important to me, and I do not invest myself overly in my job. I have consistently scored 30-40% raises on those hops. The absolute best raise I've ever gotten internally was 14% and my boss (probably the best boss I've ever had) had to go to war for it. Even including that 14% raise and a 9% raise offered at an earlier job in similar circumstances (i.e. active fear of losing headcount after people started leaving), my average internal raise is still only around 7%. If you aren't moving, you're leaving a substantial amount of money on the table. That can be justified, but quality of life is not the justification that a lot of folks here seem to think it is.