[w-hn]

I have been unemployed for almost a year now (it started with a full division layoff and then no willingness or motivation to look for work at the time). Seeing the way AI can do most of the native app development (which is what I did) code I wrote I am losing almost any motivation to even try now. But I have been sleeping the best after college (where I slept awesome) and I have been working out, watching lots of theatre and cinema and playing lots of sports (two of them almost daily), reading a lot of literature, lots of podcasts. I guess I will just wait for my savings to run dry and then see what option then I'd have and what I would not if at all. I know the standard thing to do and say is "up-skill", "change with the times" etc and I am sure those have merit but I just feel I am done with the constant catch up, kind of checked out. I don't give a fuck anymore maybe, or I do and I am too demoralised to confront it.

[throw09890989]

Feeling exactly the same way. And TBH this comes from a feeling that we never respected our profession and our fellow engineers. I mean I know no other engineering discipline where best practices and tools were changing every 3 years. I also know no other engineering discipline where getting older is anathema instead of a badge of expertise. We behave like we were in fashion business rather than engineering.

So. Yes. On one hand I'm shiting my pants because that's the only way I know of making some money. On the other hand I'm saying to myself, to hell with it all.

PS: There should be a sister thread to this with alternative careers for former SW engs.

[throwaway123198]

Honestly this is my plan. I'm waiting for my time in this career to run out. In the mean time I'm trying to aggressively save whatever way I can.

This industry is going to shrink. And that's ok. We had our time. I wish it was longer and I wish I made more, but I don't think I ever saw myself here forever.

Kudos to those who made a whole career off of this.

I'm in my mid 30s with a wife and kid and I'm mostly hoping I can complete my immigration to the US before my time in this career ends.

Then, I might pursue starting a business or going back to school with the savings and hopefully my wife can be employed at the time in her completely unrelated field and cover us until I can figure out what to do next.

I'm not sad about this. I am happy I have tried to live frugally enough to never buy my own hype or believe that my salary is sustainable forever.

A part of it for me is that I never really loved building software. I might have ADHD and that might be a big factor, but honestly it was never what excited me.

The biggest fallacy I see a lot of people buying into is that LLMs being good enough to replace software developers means they're AGI and the world has other problems. I never quite bought that. I think software developers think too highly of themselves.

But they're also not technically wrong. Ya, a LLM can basically replace a family doctor and most internal medicine physicians. But the path to that happening is long and arduous due to how society has setup medics. Software devs never fought hard enough for their profession to be protected. So we are just the easiest target, same thing that happened to a lot of traders before.

If you're mid career like me, just get ready for the idea that your career is probably much shorter than you thought it will be and you will need to retrain. It will suck but many others have done it.

[sleazebreeze]

I don't quite get this. How can you be relaxed when you have no plan and are just waiting for your savings to run out?

[patrulek]

Maybe he has enough savings to live few years on it?

[crowcountry]

I love this comment. AI can't enjoy a book for you. Enjoy your time off.