> You can find well paying contracting gigs and well paying employee contracts.

I have virtually never seen an employed software role break six figures, let alone go significantly over. With contracting that's maybe not commonplace, but definitely achievable.

> I couldn't find a junior with more than zero coding skills for less than 30k

£30k might have been an exaggeration, but I frequently get inbox spam looking for experienced people in the £40-50k range.

> if you're not job hopping in this industry, you won't go very far.

I definitely agree with that.