1. Not in my experience. It really depends where you live. Any big corporation is going to be worse than a smaller local company.

I recently left a high stress remote corporate job for a local hybrid job.

For smaller companies losing a developer is a much bigger deal so they tend to try and keep you happy much more.

2. If you have the means getting a degree will certainly openany doors that may otherwise be closed.

After a couple years experience it doesn't really matter tbh.

But many bigger companies will filter based on degree as a way to reduce applications.

Plus there's much less competition for local jobs Vs remote.

That said I have a degree and don't know much about the self taught route. But that's my understanding.

All jobs are different. There are some in my country that offer unlimited holiday. Essentially you don't have a fixed number of days but you still need approval.

So if you're on top of all your work and they can cover you you can just take a paid month off when ever.

But these jobs are obviously harder to get.

It's very varied and you'll like have to hop around as your career progresses. Working corporate made it easier for me to get better jobs even though I hated it at the time.