IDK, I get it. Grad school sucks. Post-docs suck. Pre-tenure sucks. Post-tenure isn't any better. For that entire period of time you are working on de facto fixed term contracts. Which is extremely uncommon among salaried engineers, and those that take these sorts of contingent employment contracts are typically paid quite well. It's like 10-15 years of low pay, "will I have a job next year?" stress, and moving your family around all the time (or, more commonly, just not starting a family).
And not even for good pay. These days, even after a decade or more of experience, you're making less than your undergrads. Half as much or even less in some cases.
So, your undergrad once-peers start retiring -- or at least thinking about it -- around the time that you're finally transitioning from de facto fixed-term positions to something resembling a normal employment contract, but, again, for a third to a fifth of what you'd be making in industry at that point in your career.
So, yeah, people say fuck it and cash in on influence/engagement/reputation where they can. The only real alternative is the public sector paying researchers better, but that's never going to happen.
> It's like 10-15 years of low pay, "will I have a job next year?" stress, and moving your family around all the time (or, more commonly, just not starting a family).
While true for many/most PhDs going the academic route, I somehow don't think this held true for Yann LeCun. None of this answers the question of "Why FB?" - he could easily make a slightly smaller boatload of money if he chose to go somewhere else.
IDK, I get it. Grad school sucks. Post-docs suck. Pre-tenure sucks. Post-tenure isn't any better. For that entire period of time you are working on de facto fixed term contracts. Which is extremely uncommon among salaried engineers, and those that take these sorts of contingent employment contracts are typically paid quite well. It's like 10-15 years of low pay, "will I have a job next year?" stress, and moving your family around all the time (or, more commonly, just not starting a family).
And not even for good pay. These days, even after a decade or more of experience, you're making less than your undergrads. Half as much or even less in some cases.
So, your undergrad once-peers start retiring -- or at least thinking about it -- around the time that you're finally transitioning from de facto fixed-term positions to something resembling a normal employment contract, but, again, for a third to a fifth of what you'd be making in industry at that point in your career.
So, yeah, people say fuck it and cash in on influence/engagement/reputation where they can. The only real alternative is the public sector paying researchers better, but that's never going to happen.