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one of the reasons I find it hard to leave a high paying job is because "underpaid" has always been the best predictor of job toxicity. In general (with a few

by pydry 1y ago

one of the reasons I find it hard to leave a high paying job is because "underpaid" has always been the best predictor of job toxicity. In general (with a few exceptions like finance that are generally up front about what they are), the chillest, sanest jobs with the most accomodating environments tended to pay the best and vice versa. I also have too many friends who tried sacrificing pay for better working conditions and more meaningful work and ended up bitter because they were sold a hollow dream.

hamandcheese 1y ago
Strong agree. It takes very little effort to pay someone a few more dollars, whereas all the other intangibles are a lot harder to offer. So it is exceptionally rare to find one without the other.
parpfish 1y ago
A few years back I left “big tech” for a much lower paying tech-ish job that had a meaningful mission. I was fine having a lower paying job, but what I didn’t expect was that the lower pay meant that the skill level for my colleagues was also much much lower. Years of the “Dead Sea effect” [0] had turned it into an environment where the blind were leading the blind and they weren’t even aware of how bad things were. So high pay also means “better coworkers” [0] http://brucefwebster.com/2008/04/11/the-wetware-crisis-the-dead-sea-effect/ http://brucefwebster.com/2008/04/11/the-wetware-crisis-the-d...
karaterobot 1y ago
> one of the reasons I find it hard to leave a high paying job is because "underpaid" has always been the best predictor of job toxicity. Being 'underpaid' is different than being paid less, though. Describing a job as underpaid is, almost by definition, assuming a company is exploiting its workforce. It's not hard to believe such a company would also be a toxic environment in other ways. But if two companies pay different amounts, but they're both paying a fair salary, it doesn't necessarily imply anything about the company that pays less.

by pydry 1y ago

hamandcheese 1y ago

Strong agree. It takes very little effort to pay someone a few more dollars, whereas all the other intangibles are a lot harder to offer. So it is exceptionally rare to find one without the other.

parpfish 1y ago

A few years back I left “big tech” for a much lower paying tech-ish job that had a meaningful mission. I was fine having a lower paying job, but what I didn’t expect was that the lower pay meant that the skill level for my colleagues was also much much lower. Years of the “Dead Sea effect” [0] had turned it into an environment where the blind were leading the blind and they weren’t even aware of how bad things were. So high pay also means “better coworkers” [0] http://brucefwebster.com/2008/04/11/the-wetware-crisis-the-dead-sea-effect/ http://brucefwebster.com/2008/04/11/the-wetware-crisis-the-d...

karaterobot 1y ago

> one of the reasons I find it hard to leave a high paying job is because "underpaid" has always been the best predictor of job toxicity. Being 'underpaid' is different than being paid less, though. Describing a job as underpaid is, almost by definition, assuming a company is exploiting its workforce. It's not hard to believe such a company would also be a toxic environment in other ways. But if two companies pay different amounts, but they're both paying a fair salary, it doesn't necessarily imply anything about the company that pays less.