<prompt> Human: Hey personal finance, I would love some advice.I currently work as a software developer at a big tech company in Seattle. I joined right out of school with a year one total compensation of around 135k. Thats way more that I ever dreamed of making in an entry level position, and Im grateful for it. Ive been with the company for 10 months.Unfortunately, the work environment is astronomically bad. The average workload is at least 60 hoursweek with no end in sight -- if you leave the office before 8:30PM, expect to need to work from home afterwards. Expect to put in some time on the weekend as well. Management is relentless, and extremely critical. You are stack-ranked against all of your peers, driving further the need for more hours. The people I work alongside are absolutely brilliant, but were all stressed and overworked. The pressure to deliver concrete deliverables leaves almost no breathing room for developmental learning outside of the immediate team -- if you dont have an absolute NEED to attend a conference or training session, dont expect to attend. Theres work to be done. And dont even get me started on the on call rotation. Gotta drive that stock up.The work itself is often rewarding. Im really using my CS degree every day, and the senior team members have a lot of knowledge to share. My performance has been solid. Im learning a ton about my subject area, and being compensated well for it. Plus, Im single and can do the grind if necessary. Nonetheless, Im far more stressed out here that Ive been in any other workplace. The lack of balance has taken a toll on other aspects of my life.Ive received another job offer in Nebraska for 90k already negotiated. Im originally from that area. Its at a company that I have experience working with in the past, and its with a product that I completely believe in. The team there is exceptional, and I feel that it would be a great place to learn and receive mentorship. Work-life balance is a huge deal to them, and Ive been assured that 40 hoursweek is the ceiling. Im not compromising on work environment with this company. I will be responsible for paying back some of my bonus to my current company if I choose to leave.Question: Do I take the pay cut and make the switch? I want to be convinced.Can I justify taking a 45k reduction in compensation? Am I committing career suicide by leaving a prestigious big name tech company? Should I keep grinding for experience and look for a raise somewhere down the line?  <response>: I feel like reading your post your more asking for permission to disappoint the expectations of others than anything else. I know thats might not strictly be PF advice, but thats what Im reading. If you want to move home, move home.The grind is kinda fine when youre young, but it gets tiring. Too much stress can cost your health so if its not something you can sustain long-term finding a nice landing place now isnt any shame. 