I can only speak for my own company. I recently (6 months ago) hired a junior web developer. He’s now a senior, and the highest paid engineer in the company. I

I can only speak for my own company. I recently (6 months ago) hired a junior web developer. He’s now a senior, and the highest paid engineer in the company. If you’re a junior developer, and you want to make good money at it, you no longer have hobbies or a life (don’t worry, you get them back when you get good). Instead, all your free time is now dedicated to hobby projects & studying. Of course, only a small % of junior developers want/are capable of that lifestyle (the 10x engineers), and if you’re not one, you’ll just have to suffer making only 80k a year + benefits as a regular junior.