As the software development market shows no signs of recovery this year, and with the Gen AI bubble potentially about to burst as well, how many of us are considering quitting our jobs and moving into other fields?
I'd love to, but I don't really have a choice at the moment.
Maybe I'm just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but as a software engineer I don't feel like I'm doing any actual engineering and solving meaningful problems, just spaghetti gluing random frameworks, packages and services together. The only problems I get to solve are those caused by the quirks of all these incompatible things being forced to work together. It's draining.
This is the job most of the time, especially at large corporations. You’re mostly fixing legacy decisions and trying to patch together solutions to current problems (instead of fixing tomorrow’s problems). Hang in there.
"Hang in there" implies that the situation is going to improve. It won't. You end up ratcheting your title and pay upwards until you find yourself in the position of doing nothing useful all day for an amount of money that precludes switching to another career without a drastic pay cut. And you're probably hitting your mid-life crisis zenith right around this time too.
"Boo hoo" I know, but it is its own little Dante's Inferno.
I consider my job to be being a skilled practitioner that develops solutions for complex problems using technology. New technology is available to allow me to do that for my employer and potentially many others. This does not worry me, but does demonstrate I have learning to do. I have set out on a journey to do that learning, and found it pleasant so far. I have enjoyed the changes it provides to my development workflow and find myself more productive.
Times always change, but being useful and providing answers will continue to provide value to business and society, and if one wants to focus on that over the minutiae of programming, they will probably have a much better time as things change more and faster.
I've worked in software development for over 25 years and made a decision last year to change careers. It will take a long time and I will reduce my number of days working as a dev as the other career ramps up. Step one is some online training starting this month and then some volunteer work in my new field.
Counselling. I won't be a psychologist or anything but there's a need for counselors. At first, I'll be volunteering with a phone and text based crisis support organisation (https://www.lifeline.org.au/). Eventually, I hope to open my own counselling service but that will be a few years down the track.
Counselling. I won't be a psychologist or anything but there's a need for counselors. At first, I'll be volunteering with a phone and text based crisis support organisation (https://www.lifeline.org.au/). Eventually, I hope to open my own counselling service but that will be a few years down the track.
This isn’t directly related, but close enough. I used to be bullish on tech, thinking it would secure and streamline business flows.
But now after decades in risk management, I’ve seen firsthand that tech alone doesn’t solve much - the real challenges are people, process, and execution.
Even with the best tools, most (~70%) of digital transformations fail, often due to poor adoption, bad processes, or simple human error.
And after all these efforts... we’re finding more vulnerabilities than ever, maybe showing that security isn’t just about better tech — it’s about people making the right decisions.
The older I get, the more I focus on these challenges, because without solving them, even the best tech/software/code is just another liability.
I am thinking about becoming a personal trainer, with a specialty in fixing the hunched shoulders of other recovering software devs. Tech seems desperate to escape the human body, but it's been pretty gratifying to me to actually use it.
Broadly speaking, for lower back health, you should look at anterior chain work, e.g. deadlifts or kettlebell swings. For upper back health, some type of overhead pressing (military press, side press, etc.) I would avoid bench press, as it could make forward head posture worse. In general, I am a fan of Kettlebell work, though any modality can accomplish these things.
I would also add some light mobility/stability work, like the reset video another commenter posted here. I like Original Strength a lot, in particular quadruped rocking and bird dogs.
These in combination should massively improve quality of life for desk guys. A close examination of ergonomics is in order, as well. The challenge is finding programming that works for you, but in general software development is pretty flexible in allowing that.
I can’t express just how much I loathe logging in. Banking is an incredibly boring industry, gluing together one tired system to another is painful and slow. We have so called agile project managers who know so little they must be constantly prompted for the right bits of backlog to be promoted. Lately our performance is being judged on story points, an arbitrary and stupid system controlled by these glassy eyed dullards who don’t understand the products or the processes.
Got a job interview tomorrow in another industry, at this point I would flip burgers instead of work in banking.
There will always be a market for smart people who are willing to be fearless of the unknown, willing to be lifelong learners and who are in technology because they can't imagine doing anything else.
I got in to this space because it was fascinating. It still is. I worry a lot of people got in to software because they couldn't decide what else to do while in high school? If that's you, find the overlap between what you like to do, what you are good at and what pays enough for you to live.
There will always be a market for smart people who are willing to be fearless of the unknown, willing to be lifelong learners and who are in technology because they can't imagine doing anything else.
> There will always be a market for smart people who are willing to be fearless of the unknown, willing to be lifelong learners and who are in technology because they can't imagine doing anything else.
Eh, that's not really a tangible marketable skill though, or if it is, it can be very hard to identify or convince someone to hire you based on; usually it's quite the opposite. If you're a programmer of some sort normally, and find yourself out of work, it might be quite difficult to get hired for anything else if the local economy isn't absolutely stellar. If anything, you might have a shot at re-training from scratch, getting a categorically different credential, or starting a business, but often an employer would look at your resume and think "This person will jump ship as soon as they can" or "what is any of this supposed to mean to me, I need someone who's good with customers".
It depends on your region as well though. Losing a job in Canada as a software person last month, last year, 2 years ago, would potentially be crippling for a _long_ time, but now it's worse, and it's worse for everyone else too, and you'd be right to be nervous about the future. Bet against easy transferability, and do your best to actually have a compelling case for an alternative when/if the necessity comes around.
Also relying on being fascinated to pay the bills works until it really doesn't, and if a person never needs to contend with that, they should consider themselves lucky. If at any point the work starts getting dull, and duller, and dullest, you've got quite an existential crisis on your hands, and it's important to develop a healthier relationship with the thing that pays the bills before you face homelessness.
I think the benefit is not that you can literally put "smart & adaptable" on a resume, just that being smart and adaptable makes it easier to land on your feet regardless of how the economic winds are blowing.
As a dual citizen that lived in Canada from 2004-2022, I do hear where you are coming from. I love Canada. I adopted it as my home and lived there until I just couldn't any more.
We're all afraid of the future. That's normal for most people. I have rarely in my career ever bothered with certifications, yet I'm collecting them like a hobby this year.
I don't mean to read in to your comment, but I offer an ear if you want to reach out. There is an email on my HN profile.
Readit News
Maybe I'm just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but as a software engineer I don't feel like I'm doing any actual engineering and solving meaningful problems, just spaghetti gluing random frameworks, packages and services together. The only problems I get to solve are those caused by the quirks of all these incompatible things being forced to work together. It's draining.
This is the job most of the time, especially at large corporations. You’re mostly fixing legacy decisions and trying to patch together solutions to current problems (instead of fixing tomorrow’s problems). Hang in there.
"Boo hoo" I know, but it is its own little Dante's Inferno.
Times always change, but being useful and providing answers will continue to provide value to business and society, and if one wants to focus on that over the minutiae of programming, they will probably have a much better time as things change more and faster.
But now after decades in risk management, I’ve seen firsthand that tech alone doesn’t solve much - the real challenges are people, process, and execution.
Even with the best tools, most (~70%) of digital transformations fail, often due to poor adoption, bad processes, or simple human error.
And after all these efforts... we’re finding more vulnerabilities than ever, maybe showing that security isn’t just about better tech — it’s about people making the right decisions.
The older I get, the more I focus on these challenges, because without solving them, even the best tech/software/code is just another liability.
I would also add some light mobility/stability work, like the reset video another commenter posted here. I like Original Strength a lot, in particular quadruped rocking and bird dogs.
These in combination should massively improve quality of life for desk guys. A close examination of ergonomics is in order, as well. The challenge is finding programming that works for you, but in general software development is pretty flexible in allowing that.
Got a job interview tomorrow in another industry, at this point I would flip burgers instead of work in banking.
I got in to this space because it was fascinating. It still is. I worry a lot of people got in to software because they couldn't decide what else to do while in high school? If that's you, find the overlap between what you like to do, what you are good at and what pays enough for you to live.
Nice. Added to https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup
Eh, that's not really a tangible marketable skill though, or if it is, it can be very hard to identify or convince someone to hire you based on; usually it's quite the opposite. If you're a programmer of some sort normally, and find yourself out of work, it might be quite difficult to get hired for anything else if the local economy isn't absolutely stellar. If anything, you might have a shot at re-training from scratch, getting a categorically different credential, or starting a business, but often an employer would look at your resume and think "This person will jump ship as soon as they can" or "what is any of this supposed to mean to me, I need someone who's good with customers".
It depends on your region as well though. Losing a job in Canada as a software person last month, last year, 2 years ago, would potentially be crippling for a _long_ time, but now it's worse, and it's worse for everyone else too, and you'd be right to be nervous about the future. Bet against easy transferability, and do your best to actually have a compelling case for an alternative when/if the necessity comes around.
Also relying on being fascinated to pay the bills works until it really doesn't, and if a person never needs to contend with that, they should consider themselves lucky. If at any point the work starts getting dull, and duller, and dullest, you've got quite an existential crisis on your hands, and it's important to develop a healthier relationship with the thing that pays the bills before you face homelessness.
We're all afraid of the future. That's normal for most people. I have rarely in my career ever bothered with certifications, yet I'm collecting them like a hobby this year.
I don't mean to read in to your comment, but I offer an ear if you want to reach out. There is an email on my HN profile.