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Comment by cehrlich | Hacker News Reader

I don't know about other parts of the UK, but I interviewed for some (senior) lecturer positions last year and the salary was a joke by London standards. I'm not comparing to lofty SWE salaries here, but just compared to what it takes to make a decent living in London.

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PostDoc salaries in BayArea Universities are 1/2 or less of what a junior engineer makes. You can literally consult the tables at https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-funding/income-limits/state-an... that a NIH postdoc would pay you an extremely low - low income. Other countries like Germany or Switzerland at least pay somewhat decently (Germany 3x above media income).

I got an offers to work on several really cool projects, but the pay is at poverty level basically.

See I could probably stomach a PhD, yes it’s going to be a shock in QoL, but it’s not too long, and can be a useful credential.

But the post doc stuff feels like ritual hazing. Poverty wages for highly educated, highly skilled individuals for even more years. It seems like medical residencies, but you’re never going to see the type of money the physician will after paying dues.

More broadly, the general job market -- "there are so many available!" -- seems to be cities bit by higher than expected CoL increases. Academia seems to be the same. Nobody wants to earn $20/hr at Starbucks if I have to pay $2k/mo for rent.

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