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Ask HN: I want to leave tech: what do I do?

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136 points todsacerdoti | 4 comments | 04 Jul 25 13:58 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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bradlys ◴[04 Jul 25 14:32 UTC] No.44464907[source]▶
Written by a European.

Reality is - if you’re an American and got into tech and are working for well paying tech companies, you’re not leaving and there’s no escape unless you fatFIRE. This is why FIRE is so big among the Silicon Valley tech crowd. Everyone knows. What’s the alternative for an American tech worker (primarily the people who read HN) who wants to stay where they live, keep a similar quality of living, and not work in toxic faang-esque H1B factories? There ain’t one.

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AnimalMuppet ◴[04 Jul 25 14:47 UTC] No.44465039[source]▶
If by "keep a similar quality of living" you mean "keep FAANG-sized paychecks", there probably isn't an alternative. If you mean "keep upper-middle-class paychecks", well, there's more to "tech" than just web programming.

For instance, embedded systems is pretty good. Yeah, they don't pay FAANG levels, and they never will. They typically aren't a "toxic faang-esque HIB factory", though.

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1. bradlys ◴[04 Jul 25 14:50 UTC] No.44465064[source]▶
My point is more that you can’t afford a typical home in Silicon Valley or many other major cities in the US on a single non-faang income. If you happen to luck out and get a partner with a high income - congrats, not all of us are blessed like that.
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2. SoftTalker ◴[04 Jul 25 16:44 UTC] No.44465995[source]▶
So look at places other than major cities.
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3. bradlys ◴[04 Jul 25 21:15 UTC] No.44467942[source]▶
Do we think that wages in non-major cities are competitive? They’re not.

Either way, you’re asking for people to leave the regions they’ve built their life.

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4. AnimalMuppet ◴[04 Jul 25 22:20 UTC] No.44468371{3}[source]▶
Your choice. If you won't leave the region you've built your life in, then you're stuck with the life you get in that region.

Other regions don't have competitive pay? They also don't have Bay Area cost of living.

You sound like you don't like the situation you have. You also sound like you won't look elsewhere. Your choice, but realize that you're making one.