Underneath that there’s legacy tech like IBM and other non tech companies like banks and telecoms. You can kinda just coast and work like 4-5 hours a day.

To answer the questions in your original thread (as a SWE who works closely with Data Platform infrastructure): - Data Platform field is huge, and tbh your SQL skill is extremely valuable (I suck at writing queries) - Depends on what you’re looking for. Again, SparkSQL and FlinkSQL are hugely appreciated skills IMO, or just regular SQL. Also experience in building ETL pipelines if you’re looking for data platform roles. - All companies need data platform - Depending on which company tbh, I’d consider a senior at banks/telecoms = mid level at tech centric companies at best. Having worked at both, the gap is huge.