Seems like so many people want to live frugally and retire early, or save a good enough nest egg so they can work a less paying job that is more enjoyable. I’ve always had the opposite mentality that I’m going to work as long as possible, but I’m also going to enjoy life and not save every penny (still save a reasonable amount) Is burnout really that bad in tech that everyone wants to make their money and leave? Would it be better if more people figured out how to enjoy their money now and have some wlb?
You sound like a new grad or college student. Once you join this rat race, you can see for yourself. Google anyway has good WLB on average, but many others like Amazon, Uber, startups etc don't have. Hence we want to get maximum money and leave soon.
I have around ~2 yoe at google (started as new grad). Mindset hasn’t changed, still want to enjoy my time and money while I’m young. Luckily google has good wlb for me to do this.
@heyheyheyy how is being a new grad at Google? Do you feel like you've learned a lot?
I love coding. Been doing it since I was 12, in various forms. First programmer/coder job was in last year of highschool. Had some ups and downs wrt. jobs, but last decade I spent in big corp. I can say this: coding was never the issue. The work environment was. It’s so fucking draining.
My question to you is it better to suffer for 10-15 years while saving money, or to find a way to enjoy those 10-15 years? Taking weekend trips, month long vacations, etc. wouldn’t these all make the corporate environment more worth it? Maybe my experience is different but in my eyes I’m not willing to suffer for years.
What I have learned over a long time, and occasionally the hard way (and severe burnout episodes), is that finding a balance is key. Sounds easy and obvious, right? The devil is in the details / implementation, tho. For me and my family, it’s about having a certain lifestyle, which we can have with corporate income, planning a bit ahead financially, _while_ making sure I don’t die of a heart attack or stroke while having a large bank account. This balance is hard to maintain. My best recommendation, which unfortunately I don’t always manage to follow correctly, is to set up goals (for balance) and re-evaluate your situation regularly (months apart, maybe yearly). Make changes when necessary.
Leaving after few years of making good money is also not easy. Once you get in the rat race, you get hooked. Generally speaking, the people in tech are nerds and have a poor social quotient. The rat race is all they have. For most, their TC is probably one of the only things that is truly their own. There are exceptions ofcourse, but this is what I have observed so far.
OP, can you tell me which team in Google are you in? 😛
I would do my job for free, it’s the bullshit that they have to pay me for
🤣🤣🤣
It's draining because people are inherently lazy. I have put in probably 50-60 hr weeks on average for a decade and I still love my job. I also spend my spare time learning new tech or reading books that grow my perspective. I have time for all the things in my life as well, my wife, my hobbies, etc. I just use my time well. FYI there is nothing wrong with being lazy. People are built different. But if you enjoy learning, pushing yourself, and personal growth, do not let others tell you how to live your life. Personally I think most people really suck at time management/personal motivation and have no desire to improve their own mindset. tc 1m / 10 yoe (not at amazon)
Company culture can be draining not tech in itself.
Yeah it can be bad. We love to tell ourselves we’re spoiled, but cranking out 50+ hours a week where you’re literally sitting the whole time at a job you might not like isn’t healthy at the end of the day. I worked in a warehouse and fast food throughout college and despite how backbreaking and exhausting they could be, I never was close to being burnt out like in tech.
You just don't have that much freedom when you're being paid. I like my job, but employers need you to show results and the stuff you do is always going to be for the bottom line. This is the same across all corporate jobs, not just tech. We're just lucky that FIRE is much easier for us than for people in other fields.
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You can use the bell icon buddy.
The icon doesn't exist on the web client