Ask HN: What are some comfy/stress-free jobs a SWE can do? (LCOL country)
7 ejlanor 18 8/11/2025, 1:15:11 AM
Been working as a SWE for almost 7 years, burned out, quit to recover. Thankfully savings are good, so doing well now, but I am starting to think of what comes next.
Living in a pretty cheap country, 20k/year would be more than enough to have a good life, anything over that would go into investments.
Any ideas what kinds I work I should seek out? Sacrificed a lot these past few years to progress my career, so I am looking to minimize stress and enjoy life for the next couple of years.
Genuinely curious. I'm supposed to be in the third world but COL has become ridiculous in the last few years.
I felt similarly to you not long ago, sometimes still do. Honestly right now SWE is still a valuable skill to get paid for. Leverage your network to find calmer waters after taking a break, or freelance part time instead.
Recovering from burnout in my experience is a combination of changing environment, finding tools to help with mental health, and lots of patience with yourself. If can take years to feel like your old self again, and even then your output never quite comes back the same.
Bit cheaper than NL here, don't have to pay rent but I am helping family out financially, so ending up around $20k/year too.
So I think it's possible just about anywhere in the world, if you're ready to do a lot of things yourself (don't rely on services such as a car/bike mechanic, fix plumbing, house issues yourself, don't pay a lot of money on going out etc).
Anywhere with free healthcare.
And I think that's my only interaction with the medical establishment for the last 6-7 years. The one before that was for some document I needed for my driver's license.
Of course, here in the Netherlands you can't avoid having health insurance, but it's technically free for low income people and not that expensive otherwise. In Romania, and I presume that a lot of other places, you can.
So is it that hard to stay uninsured? I do have some gripes to pick with the medical system, but yeah, I do think taking health into your own hands is a better choice (and a lot more is psychological in nature than the medical system would suggest, which is focused on symptoms and not causes).
I remember in my younger years, I would get a cold probably twice a year on average, and I would always get prescribed antibiotics by an overzealous GP. All of that stopped all of a sudden, and I haven't taken antibiotics in about a decade. I've caught a cold, maybe once every two years, but much lighter and goes away by itself in 2-3 days at most.
As you're not a permanent staff member it's much easier to ignore all politics and decisions you don't agree with as it's not really your business. Turn-up, do the work, check-out and don't think about work after you sign-out.
You can still do good work, share your opinion on how you would approach things, but as a contractor it's much easier to accept things.
I don't work as a contractor anymore, as ultimately I like to have a stake in the place where I work, but I did enjoy my time as a contractor, and I think it can genuinely help with recovery from burn-out.
If you don't have any family you could try somewhere relatively close by for short periods and see how you get on e.g. USA->Panama/Costa Rica, Western Europe -> Eastern Europe, or maybe consider Thailand/Vietnam.
All that matters
Remote jobs of course, local scene is not great both in terms of salary and work culture.
Money wise, my living expenses are around $20k/year. And last full time job I was making around $60k/year in a senior level role.
I feel like programming is the only one that is realistically monetizeable out of those.