[dimask]

To be fair people in the private sector typically make more money at least and have better work-related perks. Academia advertises mostly 1. you research stuff you find interesting and 2. you will get job security some point after a couple of postdocs. Currently neither 1 nor 2 apply for the vast majority of academic work.

[ghaff]

From a somewhat outside perspective, I used to think that being a tenured professor at one of a relative handful of top institutions would be a pretty nice gig overall with at least decent pay and benefits. Over time, I came to think I probably wouldn't have liked it a lot even given that very optimistic hypothetical situation.

[throw0101c]

> Academia advertises mostly 1. you research stuff you find interesting and 2. you will get job security some point after a couple of postdocs.

Also pensions. Often, if you start early, you can retire with a full pension at 55 or so.