In practice, employees treat meaning, independence, agency, and work-life balance as currency and …

I'm one of those people who will happily take a pretty big pay cut for my sanity 9 times out of 10. I grew up in a low income household and have lived on very little at several points in my adult life, it comes naturally to me and I almost prefer it in some ways. My mental health is more likely to be threatened by over-stress or a lack of meaning than by having to stretch a shoestring budget. The only time staying in a job I don't have many positive feelings about (or worse, only negative feelings) makes sense to me is if I have very specific plans for the extra money I'm making and very good odds of seeing the plan through. Such a way of life isn't for everyone, but I strongly advise those who maybe lean less materialist than the norm and/or aren't afraid of more frugal living to consider it. Especially if you've been asking yourself more than once a week lately how much more of 'this g…

Agreed, there are plenty of small companies out there. Early startups, pre or early product-market-fit, etc. Mostly can't afford to pay large salaries. Need people who are interested and self-motivated. Willing to be flexible in various ways – a lot more is negotiable with small companies. They aren't going to get in front of your face easily – you'll need to seek them out.

I'm a software engineer at a large construction company and find my work deeply meaningful. We make sure people building actual stuff stay safe with our tools, and work more efficiently. It's so cool to see mind blowing, tangible projects get built. You're right, FAANG comp is definitely way higher, but I really enjoy where I work and it's the first place in a long time I haven't felt an urge to start looking for something else a couple years in.