Most companies try to underpay you. FAANG isn't any different (see collusion), though there is a difference: even with collusion, the salaries of many of these positions are still much easier to live off of than what many people experience and have available.
But, at least for me, money and pay is not literally the only thing I care about when taking a job. I don't tolerate being exploited, they can't substitute underpaying with other things. But there are additional requirements beyond pay that I try to hold prospective employers to.
One of those is business ethics.
All companies are sociopaths, and most of the people who run them are too. You're never going to find a moral beacon to work for unless you start the company yourself. But what I can do is avoid companies that are actively destroying society.
After 18 months of ignoring their emails, in December I decided to finally respond to the Facebook internal recruiters that have been emailing me.
This is the email I finally sent them after 18 months of persistence:
I have appreciated all of the effort that you and your colleagues have gone through over the last 18 months to try and get me to apply at Facebook. However, I don't want to have working at Facebook on my conscience. Facebook is not a company that I can tolerate working for on a personal level, despite what it might do for my career and future prospects. I can't contribute to the damage that the product does to the world, or to the deranged “vision” of the person controlling the company. My tenure there would be frustrating and ultimately short lived.
Best of luck. I hope your company contributes something positive to society at some point in the future. It'll be better for all of us if that happens.
For the record, the recruiters themselves were professional and courteous, and I'm sure are just like the rest of us: workers just trying to support themselves and their families.
I appreciate you getting back to me and letting me know your thoughts. I’ll make a note that you’d prefer not to be contacted for future opportunities at Meta.
Wishing you the best moving forward. Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones.