> On a related note I can’t wrap my head around how I had to grift over a decade to get roles which would pay as much ( and include this level of responsibility and respect) in the UK. [...] I’m not saying it’s unfair I’m just pointing out how different a programmers life can be if they don’t slot it into a FAANG company and ends up working at small ones in Europe. Any thoughts are welcome.

There's a reason why there are no European FAANGs. And the culture around devs vs non-technical roles at tech companies is a big part of the problem (but most Europeans won't acknowledge it!).