Techies willing to accept lower salaries for a less toxic work culture, say happiness over paychecks

The tech job market has been in a state of upheaval since the last couple of months. Companies like Meta, Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Amazon, among others, have laid off thousands of employees, impacting many lives across the globes. And now, a new survey reveals that tech workers are willing to accept lower salaries due to the present market conditions. However, that is not the only influence, as many tech workers are also prioritising other, non-monetary benefits like a healthy work culture and the option of working from home.

Techies choose happiness over paychecks

According to a survey by job posting site Blind, job-seekers are influenced by current market conditions while accepting an offer. This means that some respondents said that they would accept a job with a lower or equal salary owing to the current market conditions.

"This finding underlines the significant influence of current job market conditions on salary expectations, with 45 per cent of respondents citing this as the primary reason they would accept a comparable or lower salary for a new position," the Blind survey states.

However, market conditions are not the only influencing factor and the employees working in the tech sector today want more than just a high-paying job. 56 per cent of tech workers said that they are 'open to accepting the same or lower pay in a new role, provided the role fulfills another unmet need'.

"Engineers are lowering their salary expectations, but there is a newly heightened emphasis on non-monetary benefits, like career growth, work-life balance, and company culture," a blog post by Blind states.

'Will trade toxicity for lower pay', says tech worker

The blog post also quotes a Meta employee, who wrote, "I'd rather make less money and be happier."

The post quotes another tech worker, a Salesforce employee, saying that they would work at a lower salary if they work culture is non-toxic. "I would trade toxicity for a lower paycheck," the employee wrote.

Another Meta employee said that the companies offering higher compensation are in 'layoff mode' and their work culture is a 'dumpster fire'.

Meta employee on tech becoming a toxic sector

This isn't the first time that a Meta employee has talked about tech becoming a toxic industry. Last month, a former Meta employee took to LinkedIn to share about her layoff experience. She revealed that she had started working at a local winery after being handed the pink slip by Meta.

She also revealed that her new job pays roughly USD 20 an hour and that she was making a 6-figure salary at Meta.

Talking about how the tech job market is scary and feels toxic, the woman wrote, "This tech job market is scary. I was let go in March from my role at Meta, and to be honest, I gave up on finding another talent acquisition job in the tech sector before I even started. Tech feels like a toxic and volatile place right now."