[valdiorn]

They very much are, right now. Lots and lots of big layoffs, the FAANG/MAGMA companies have completely dropped the halo effect they had over the industry. Everyone had to chase them on comp to get the best people; now they're ejecting people left, right and centre and there's no incentive for the smaller players to try and keep up with the competition anymore, because the competition in gone.

I've definitely noticed this myself when I was working my last job (quant finance in London, startup fund). We were getting premium talent applying for roles that we never dreamt of getting before then. A lot of them were ex Meta, ex google, ex Palantir etc. Guys who were very good but went to work mindless jobs for big tech for that 300k pay package. Now they're asking for half that, and desperate for a job.

[fire_lake]

I was under impression that only a few prop trading and HFT firms in London pay around the 300k mark, with FANG-type companies offering roughly half. Start-ups slightly below that but with generous stock options, if that’s your bag. Maybe I’m miscalibrated?

[achierius]

Yes, miscalibrated -- a TC of $150k would be low for a FAANG company, unless you're just talking about entry level pay. Once you're a year or two in, $200k+ is typical.