I feel seen! I've spent my entire career as a web dev (15+ years) almost exclusively working for non tech companies: solar companies, nonprofits, museums, sustainability funds, etc.<p>I loved it! The pay was much lower (50 to 100k), but generally livable, and the people were awesome -- folks from all walks of life, not all tech bros, a lot of women, etc. Good work life balance (I've worked a total of maybe 6-7 hours of overtime in my whole career), no weekends or holidays, no crunch. No bonuses or equity either, but that didn't bother me.<p>But more than anything, I got to work in interesting verticals, whether it's alongside energy engineers, battery experts, world-renowned conservation scientists, archeologists, etc. People who love what they work on, making small but meaningful contributions to the real world (as opposed to like enshittified ad tech or crypto pyramids).<p>Would strongly recommend, if you can get over the lower pay (like you don't have a family or mortgage yet) and the lack of prestige (you're just another minion in the machine, not a privileged SWE). It's a lot of fun, though you also lose the opportunity to work with experts in your field (who are usually at proper tech companies), exchanging depth for breadth. It's not for everyone, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.