From an ethical perspective, Oracle is mean to tech (open source, buyouts and so on, mean licensing setups with companies). On the other hand, Google and Facebook seem to contribute more to tech while being absolutely vile to the general public. Cutesy yellow and green bicycles and thumbs up signs don't negate the societal harm these companies have done by vacuuming personal data and selling it at such scale.

Then again, what is moral? Finance ? Ad tech? And don't say government, IT there is a wreck and a waste (enter Oracle, IBM contracts to piss taxpayer money to).

We're highly paid for a reason unfortunately.

Higher Education, colleges and universities, are generally excellent work environments with excellent benefits. Depending on job, salary isn't always competitive with the tech sector though.

I work in higher ed. Salaries are nowhere near competitive. However, everyone I work with has opted for good work environment over money. Tends to lead to self-selection of nice people, even if they aren't "rockstars".

I knew a couple of people who worked at Stanford in various capacities (admissions, and administration, IIRC) -- and while I didnt understand what they were good at, or what they did per se, they were some of the more genuinely nice and honest than many people I have met.

My problem is that I am too naive to sharks and assholes.

I have met thousands and thousands of people in may 22 year career in tech. Of which a very very small number I am friends with still - as I find that many people are way more cunning and conniving than I allow myself to admit.

Also getting a cushy tenured position takes years of hard work, and the alternative is being a perpetual postdoc which is paid abysmally.

I'd choose "none of the above".

Unless you've got a mortgage, young kids, a family member to take care of, or you like to eat consistently.

I lot of people talk big about not taking those jobs, but those that actually follow through are extremely rare.

Raises hand.

I can absolutely with all honesty say that I would never work for a large company. I worked for a Fortune 10 (non tech) company for 3 years out of my 20 year career and I said never again. Large companies are too stifling and too regimented for me. Even if I didn’t have to move from my low cost of living area and a I was offered a job at a FAANG, I would say no.

Well with one exception, I might be willing to work for AWS as a consultant.

If you have the pick between Oracle, Google and Amazon, youd likely also have an offer at a different company. So its a valid choice.

I have all of those things, and I've followed though. I know lots of other quality devs who have done the same. I don't think people like us are as rare as you suppose. It's not like the job market is particularly tight, after all.

Sorry, but: This is nonsense. It's not like these are the only options, and you cannot get a comparable offer somewhere else.