A lot of people will disagree with me on this one. I’ve been a software engineer for 35 years now. I’ve worked at everything from tiny companies where I’m the only dev, to startups, to massive corporations with countless employees. And I’ve never seen anything like what’s happening now.

There are four factors:

  • H1-Bullshit. Never before have so many H1-B visas been allowed. And the number is only going up. For the uninitiated they’re work visas that cap the amount the dev can legally be paid and chain them to their job so they can’t quit. They’re horribly exploitative and bring down everyone’s paycheck.

  • The software already built is good enough. Organizations already have either decade+ old software solutions in place or third party vendors that provide those solutions. There will always be bug fixes and maintenance but nobody is building new software from scratch anymore. The stuff that already exists is good enough at what it does that it isn’t worth the investment to make something new. That means fewer devs are needed for writing that software.

  • Destruction of the public sector. A LOT of unemployed and experienced devs are about to be looking for jobs. If you have less than 10 years of experience be prepared for finding a job to become nearly impossible. Even if the next administration takes a different approach it will take many years to undo just the damage that’s already been done.

  • AI. I actually don’t think AI on it’s own will be terribly destructive to the industry. It’s a tool that will make devs more efficient and cause a slight drop in openings. But combined with everything else it’s just one more factor hurting the industry.

When people ask me how to get into software development I tell them not to bother. I encourage you to consider it as well. The golden age of IT careers is over.

  • kayazere@feddit.nlEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    The exciting shift in Europe is there is now a big push to move off of US tech solutions and to develop EU sovereign software. If it goes the route of open source and interoperability, this could be really exciting compared to US solutions which are locked down and full of spyware. This would create new job opportunities in Europe with a focus on open source.

  • venotic@kbin.melroy.org
    2·
    1 month ago

    I’ve thought on and off about being a software developer since I had ideas I wanted to execute for the benefit of myself and others. But, I’m more of a labor type that wants to move around. I can’t stand the idea of sitting for hours on end every day, coupled with all of the negatives involved with office culture and what you’ve listed.

    • Magister@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Yes, I’m in Canada and a software programmer for 25 years, and yes it’s not the golden age anymore, but we don’t have those H1B visa problem here. It also really depends of your field, if it’s frontend web/javascript it’s harder to find. If you are backend or embedded linux etc, it’s better I think.

      Some fields like FPGA is highly looked for too.

      • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        From what I’ve seen, US programmer salaries are a lot higher than other countries. What we could be seeing is American programming salaries going more in line with the international market.

        • iegod@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          Yep. Saw a remote job posting for either USA or Canada and the Canadian rate was half the US one. Same role.

  • acchariya@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Quite the opposite in my experience. Job openings get flooded, but the people that apply just don’t have the skills. People from government and big companies seem to have a narrow sliver of experience that doesn’t translate well to solving real businesses problems with software, and I include big tech in that as well.

  • defunct_punk@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Every field goes through cycles of boom+bust. Major corporations around the world gambled on the importance of having a strong IT office. Some won and some lost. It sucks to see people losing their jobs but at the same time, “the software we have now is good enough” is a pretty bad take IMO

  • Let's Go 2 the Mall!@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I work in IT. Network Admin. And the guys I know that code say basically the same thing. I thought about getting into it but the future looks bleak. Maybe I should become a plumber.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
    01·
    2 months ago
    • there is no upper limit to H1b pay, but it must match or exceed the prevailing wage for that skill or the peers at the worksite. That’s the law, and that’s my experience when I was an H1b. Where do you get this shite?
    • people are absolutely building new software.
    • I can’t address the false consensus but I do know my union IT job has people with 30 years of experience AVERAGE, and a culture of skills maintenance. Obviously, your mileage varies.
    • Ai FUD is just FUD. We survived crypto-bros and AgileEverything, and our odds are good.