I'm not sure about EU but there are still many many many hiring managers who think SWE/Devops/ML are just like any other employees and shouldn't get paid less t

I'm not sure about EU but there are still many many many hiring managers who think SWE/Devops/ML are just like any other employees and shouldn't get paid less than the middle managers about them. Avoid those shops like the plague. If a company still doesn't understand that you get what you pay for in *current year*, they're not going to treat you well in non-monetary ways either.