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Ex-Google Engineer Finds Joy After Leaving Tech Giant

11/27/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Jay Gengelbach, a software engineer, left Google after 18 years to join Vercel, citing dissatisfaction and burnout as a manager.
He resigned in mid-2024, facing financial and emotional risks before finding happiness in a smaller company environment.
He earned up to $700,000 annually while at Google.
In July 2025, he moved to Canada, where he now solves challenging problems and contributes to meaningful projects.

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Story summary

Jay Gengelbach, a software engineer, left Google after 18 years to join Vercel, citing dissatisfaction and burnout as a manager.
He resigned in mid-2024, facing financial and emotional risks before finding happiness in a smaller company environment.
He earned up to $700,000 annually while at Google.
In July 2025, he moved to Canada, where he now solves challenging problems and contributes to meaningful projects.