I've recently left GDS, so I'll try to explain things from my perspective. Firstly, the salaries are slightly misleading. There is a special non-pensionable pa

I've recently left GDS, so I'll try to explain things from my perspective. Firstly, the salaries are slightly misleading. There is a special non-pensionable pay supplement (DDaT) which improves the salaries considerably. Benefits are very generous. Obviously there's not stock plan, but the guaranteed pension is fantastic. There's also good parental leave, holiday allowance, and things like that. But, more than that, it attracts people who wants to make a difference. You could go to work for a start-up developing an ice-cream on demand app - or you could work on a nationally important service which improves the lives of millions of people. Some people join because they want a "big name" on their CV. That's fine; you expect people to go off to bigger and better things. The know that a lot of what they work on will be open source - which serves as a great portfolio for them. Some people join because they want to work with "decision makers". There's lots of movement between government departments, so it isn't impossible to go from being a junior developer to briefing a Minister if that's your aim. Finally, it genuinely was a great place to work. The people are friendly, the problem is interesting, and the work is important.