[SimonPStevens]

To be a 60 year old software engineer now you would have to have started in 1984. (Assuming graduating age 21 and going straight into work*)

There just wasn't the same number of developers back then.

I can't find good numbers, but according to [1], there were 612,000 developers in the US in 2002, compared to 4.4 million in 2023 in the. It's reasonable to assume that there were probably an order of magnitude less again in 1984. So very little opportunity to become a 60 year old software engineer in 2023.

I'd hazard a guess that in another 40 years there will be a lot more 60 year old developers. (Either that, or zero because ChatGPT 15 has taken over)

[1] - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering_demogra...

* Yes, I know this doesn't quite hold as I'm sure people switched careers. Particularly early on in the computer industry where I imagine many people switched into software from more technical electrical/hardware type roles. But I still think the major point still stands which is the main reason for the lack of older developers now, is just the lack of younger developers 40 years ago.

[petemir]

Adding anecdata, but my mother just turned 70 and is still software engineer (Edit: cobol and rpg still pay off! :)). She never went the manager path, preferring talking with computers rather than humans seems to run in the family :).

[ChrisMarshallNY]

I started in '83 (paid to code, at 84-5).

I would still be working for someone, except the industry doesn't believe that I should be. I was frozen out, pretty hard.

Instead, I work for free. I really enjoy coding, and it's actually been vastly freeing, having my own schedule and structure.

[derwiki]

Could you say more about how you were frozen out? (or link to it if you've already written about it) Thanks in advance!

[pabs3]

What are you working on?

[gopalv]

> be a 60 year old software engineer now you would have to have started in 1984

My uncle is a 60 year old software developer, but he started writing software much later in life.

He started off in EE working for Sperry, went with the divisions wherever they went and switched over at the ripe old age of 47.

His previous work was all about state machines, so is his new work.

So "40 years of experience" isn't the same as 60 years old developer.

There's more of the EE/Physics grad turned software developer around than people who wrote software in the 80s.

[cdkmoose]

I'll be a 60 year old software engineer next year(class of '87), my brother just retired as a 60 year old engineer(class of '85). We exist but the educational/career pathways at that time were very limited.

[mech422]

I've been programming professionally for 45 years now (55 atm). Started writing invoicing systems on heathkits and database systems for real estate on C-64..then Cobol/PL1,C,Perl,Python.. oh - and I don't have any degree at all.

I'm quite optimistic I'll be able to work another 5+ years, if I choose to..

[mnky9800n]

So a bit more than 1% of all Americans is developing software. I wonder what fraction are truck drivers?

[umeshunni]

Quick search:

> 7.99 million people employed throughout the economy in jobs that relate to trucking activity in 2021

so, about 2.5%

[Taniwha]

I'm turning 65 in a couple of months, been making a living doing this stuff for money since I was in college - started programming 53 years ago (using cards) - in '84 I moved to the US I think most of the people I worked with then are working now