I've also worked (and currently work) at a big tech company and personally this has not been my experience. I'm sure it happens but it's not typical.
126 karma · joined July 16, 2020
One thing to keep in mind is you don't always need to pay this debt back. For instance - what if you want to try a quick prototype of something (which may later be discarded if it doesn't pan out), or just need a temporary stopgap solution?