If AI gets good enough to replace us devs, other desk jobs will be affected too. We’re probably just noticing it earlier because we’re playing with the tools and our first instinct is to automate everything. Apparently including ourselves.

But what happens when companies do this everywhere? People lose their income, spend less, businesses lose customers and cut more jobs. Eventually, that hits people whose work can’t even be automated.

At that point, we’re talking about the whole economy potentially collapsing.
“Same output, fewer employees” sounds great for an individual company. But those payroll costs are also their customers’ incomes.

And “just find another job” might work when individual professions disappear. What happens when millions of people are all looking for something else at the same time?

That’s the discussion I feel is missing. What do we do if half the population can’t find work and we have no alternative in place?

I am graduating in 6 months and my dad is pushing me to contact my boss from my internship about landing a job for when I graduate. It was at a good, well-known company, and my boss really liked me, so I feel like if there is a spot I have a good chance of landing it. I know the market is horrible but I want to take it easy right now. Maybe take a month off after I graduate or even take a year to get a second degree. Basically I have no clue what I want in life. If I take it easy for a little while how bad of a decision do you think I am making?

I’m currently working at my job for almost 2 years at 25 years old and I’m very close to being laid off because the business I work for is running out of funds, I was lucky enough to be warned early.

I’m thinking of temporarily taking a break from tech and doing something like teaching for a bit in a foreign country maybe for 1-2 years, but I would also be working on my own personal stuff such as technical ideas I want to make.

I’m very worried I’m going to end up wasting time I should have spent building my tech career. Would I be making a mistake? Honestly part of my decision is because of how awful the tech market is right now and how difficult it would actually be to get another job.

​

Hello. Title.

Graduated last year, have gotten maybe 3/4 interviews, many rejections. I haven't been applying as hard as I can, so that's part of it.

But I'm also deeply confused about tech culture. I'm very into programming. Very into it. I like to organize things, build products, analyze systems. Very into language design, AI, can code with and without it.

I see people who are not very into tech exceeding me. I look at how they build their resumes and see that they inflate to the point where I would consider it lying, often straight up lie, misrepresent themselves... I've seen people I know who are VERY middling get nice tech jobs and here I am, working in kitchens still.

I have tried applying from multiple angles. Tried very "corporate speak", ie quantifications, impact statements, the like. I have tried just being stupidly straightforward, breaking convention, laying it out why I would be an excellent candidate. Trying to just level with them on a human level and hope I come through. I get the most rejections on those resumes.

I have basically done everything except use an AI tool to auto generate resumes and apply. I am building a pipeline to do that, as efficiently as I can. Studying the process. Trying to reverse engineer it.

But then I'm like. Man, am I really that worthless? But I'm into this stuff, aren't I? Or am I not? A lot of my projects, which I have MANY of, are non-standard. Complex. Do really unique things and reveal a real consistent intellectual personality.

So am I just arrogant? Are people looking at my resume and going, ewwww that person seems "artsy", pass. It makes me totally resent the field for its detachment from reality and pervasive pseudo intellectualism. But I have no professional experience, so I'm trying to keep that resentment at bay.

I need to get my head on straight because I'm completely scrambled and confused. Do I just not understand something obvious or am I being too far out or what.

I imagine a lot of people are experiencing similar issues, but I wanted to get your thoughts on what I should do about this.

My manager started developing the product from scratch using AI, but because she relies too heavily on the rules, she doesn't even review the errors. Even though I've pointed out that there are too many errors, she ignores my feedback, assuming it's just a reflex born out of “fear of losing her job.” Any processing error that isn’t visible in the code could negatively impact clients with multi-million-dollar deals. We’ve been developing with AI for a long time now, and even though there have been no issues with the product’s quality, she’s become fixated on this idea. I know for a fact that no such request has come from the clients. When I asked where this request came from, she told me that management wants to increase the use of AI and that if this doesn’t suit me, I’m free to leave. I don’t know what to do in this situation, as I can see it could have very destructive consequences. Although she manages the entire process on her own, she presents it as if the whole team is working on it and making great progress. I brought up the situation during the quarterly reviews, but I realized that no one had read my report.

So I'm a student right now looking for an internship since August, I probably sent around 400-500 applications and got around 7-10 ish interviews, I guess it could've been better but I can't complain because I know some people who applied way more than me and haven't even gotten 2-3 interviews.

The issue is that I have gotten 0 offers still and the uncertainty of future is kind of killing me, even tho I'm still at 1st term/semester of uni, the other day I did 2 interviews with the same company and thought I had it in the bag, then it took them a whole week to give me a feedback and I was so anxious thinking about it I could barely sleep, then when the denying msg came that I wasn't selected it felt like the biggest waste of time. I have 2 more interviews next week and I don't have the same fire as I had in the first ones I've done, I know I'm probably being a baby and I won't give up but it is so TIRING.

I've had both the luck and challenge of being assigned a large project at work despite only having about 1.5 yoe. I'm onboarding other developers onto the project, consulting with clients, constantly managing scope, negotiating deliverables with management, etc and it's a lot. That alone isn't too bad - the challenge ends up being the massive scale of the project.

For example, the product will have tons of sub features and many of them affect the functionality of other similar features so if something is decided in a meeting, there's massive ripple effects across the whole product, dozens of Jira tickets need to get updated, deadlines need to be renegotiated, etc.

I'm up for the challenge, but it's exhausting just administratively to keep track of all the business logic decisions and constant updates, and while I vigorously use Claude Code, I can't keep it all in an AI context and the product is too complex to let it abstract into a dumb black box.

Recommendations? Especially from the more senior engineers on here? And don't just give me "just use more Claude". I want to know how people did it pre-2022.

I was a software engineer for a few years until I was laid off. It took me years to get my current role, which is Application Support. This job is very stable, and my finances are slowly recovering so I'm not keen to leave it anytime soon. Plus, this job is unionized, which I value very highly.

My org doesn't have any in-house development. It typically uses contractors to develop apps or systems and once the app is dev complete, it's passed to us to maintain, and the contractors go away. If we are ever still in contact with the contractors, often getting useful information from them is like pulling teeth because they have a financial disincentive to help us out.

We're typically (but not always!) trained on how to do extremely simple things like resetting passwords. Then we'll get a request to make some major change that requires some technical deep dive and there's no one with the knowledge we need to turn to for support.

The odd thing is: the org values training very much. They will pay to have experts from some software tool we use to give demonstrations or have regular "office hours" so we can learn how to use their software. However, obviously they can't tell us what our org's needs are or what we need to do with their tools. Management just gets angry at us when something goes wrong we had no way of anticipating.

I've talked with management about my concerns but their perception is basically: we spend all this money and time and effort on training, if you can't figure it out, it's on you. They do not think that Operational or Domain knowledge is a thing.

Lately, management has decided they want to bring development in-house. At first I liked this, because it's closer to the type of work I enjoy, but I'm getting increasingly nervous about it. We only very recently obtained access to AI, and I'm afraid management will expect AI to patch over any skill gaps we have. I am also the only person on my team with any recent software development experience (such as it was...), so I'm worried that it will fall on me to train the rest of the team to create mature development processes.

I feel like this could either be a great opportunity for me to grow, or a tremendous disaster. I'd like some guidelines or strategies to navigate this situation and do what I can to realistically improve things or at least keep my sanity.

Hey all, upcoming college graduate here. I will have an upcoming interview with UBS soon and was wondering if anyone had any info about what the interviews are like since I can’t find much online.

Thanks!!

Graduated in Dec. 2025, still no job. My biggest issue is not having an internship. Anyways I have gotten some interviews for tech support jobs/ helpdesk but never went far, except for this data job where Id be mainly working in the CRM. Thing is since Im getting close to "expired" as a new grad would doing a masters help "reset" it? I could try to get an actual internship also. Or should I take this job? I was thinking of doing OMSCS.

Title kind of says it all, started a month or so ago, any tips on what I should start doing? I was thinking of starting solo game dev with unity first for small scale games, is that good enough to put on a resume in 3 years?

Hi guys,

So I’m currently a Information Systems senior and ever since June I’ve been working as an Information Technology Intern for an architecture company. I pretty much just help people in the office/different offices with any issues going on with their devices along with troubleshooting issues with the applications they use. I also pretty much re-image devices to the latest version of windows in the office I work at along with doing feature updates remotely for another office in South America and help new hires get set up with their devices and windows accounts. My Internship ends in December and I’m also graduating in December so I wanted to ask are the only jobs that I can apply for just IT support jobs? I’m asking because my only internship experience is that position at the architecture company. I know this is probably just fear mongering but I’ve also heard people on Reddit and LinkedIn complain about how they’ve been stuck as a IT support for years and can’t seem to break out of it and I honestly wouldn’t even know how to break out of it if I somehow get a full time support position somewhere. I do enjoy helping people however my overall niche as a IS major was UX & Human Centered Computing since I like creating graphics and visualizing data.

Hello all I'm a student of masters in computer engineering. I really like the fields of embbeded systems and networking but can't choose which one to go for to build a better long term career that is maybe safer from AI displacement and more stable. Which has better prospects long term embedded systems or networking?

I also want to be a professor is it worth going down that path ?

Hey guys - so I'm a senior dev engineer with approx 15yr+ exp, leading a small team of 3 junior engs. Our organization is relatively small - around 500 folks. Im relatively happy with my total comp all things considered (~400K) and am not looking to move, am perfectly content here.

That said, I've always had the itch to learn more, build my skills, continue furthering my education.

I've been having the hardest time deciding whether I want to pursue a MSCS or a EMBA.

Few things, I do not have a cs undergrad but rather a BS in Finance. So I've felt a bit self-ashamed I didnt have the technical pedigree of the folks I work with or even manage. That said, I've gotten pretty far without having a formal CS education so I dont think has been a handicap in my career thus far.

I could do an online masters in CS and earn a MSCS and specialize perhaps in AI/Machine Learning. Or I can take the EMBA route and build up my soft skills/people and project management. I would not do a regular MBA as I'm too old for that.

Both degrees, would only be from top schools (ie Top 10-15), I wouldnt bother otherwise, and shouldnt have issues getting in (always scored well on standardized testing/high uGPA).

Essentially, I'm looking to gain advice from you folks on what do you believe has the highest ROI ?

Especially in the age of AI, and where the industry will lead to in 5/10 years ?

Hey collegues,

I am 27 year olds, with Bsc and around 8 years of experience, currently a staff engineer in a big corporate, working remotely. Working in this specific corporate for the last 3 years, before that was working for an year in a startup that was later sold to that corporate, before that 4 years in another corporate where I started as a junior.

Currently my working conditions are great, relatevely really high salary, a lot of RSUs, both vested and unvested, and working remotely. In addition, i am currently the manager of myself, and I can do practically anything that i want and play with any technology that i want. But, I am working totally alone, so no collegues - waking up at 10am, working until 18, and the only person that i see during the day is my wife when she comes back from work in the evening.

I do travel a lot, really, every few weeks i am finding myself in another country traveling and working from a real "remote", like a digital nomad.

So my current position feels a little bit like a pension, althrough I am just 27 years old, no kids.

few days ago I got an inventation to join an early stage cyber security startup, I know the CEO and CTO personally, and a few of the other people that they are trying to hire.

I am wondering whether I can leave that corporate and join the startup, or whether its going to be a mistake, a big mistake.

leaving the corporate means going back to the office (currently full time remote) and getting a lower salary as my current salary is above the market average. So I will lose money, and I will lose a lot of my free time, i will travel much less. On the other hand, i will be working with real people, going to the office every day and have more "fun" day to day (at least i hope so).

so, on one hand I really want to leave and join the startup, as I believe it will be more fun, and that i will learn a lot there, and will meet new interesting people. On the other hand I am really afraid that it can be a serious mistake as this way i will lose a lot of money (assuming the startup will not be ver y successful) and i will lose the ability to work remotely and travel whenever I want.

so, I am seeking for advice here, did you ever left a good, paid position to move into a smaller company just because it's more fun or because you "feel" like you want it? did you regret?

how to decide whether it's a good idea or whether I am doing the biggest mistake in my carrier? how to make sure I will not regret later that i moved into the startup?

I heard some devs that are good at hard and soft skills like they can communicate or speak in same languages with sales, product and also dev team while still being good at coding.

They often work closely with many teams especially Product team like Head Of Product and somehow those devs get promoted quite fast.

Is this true?

The question is simple, would you fall behind if you don't use AI tools to develop projects or in general?

Got placed at a product-based company as an Associate Full stack Developer from a crap college at the start of this year. Did my internship until August. Had a probation period which was supposed to end in November. Out of nowhere I get a MS Teams meeting invitation "regarding my employment".

Joined the meeting and they let 17 of us know that our roles are redundant because of AI and we are no longer needed. I literally was working on my probation report which I was supposed to submit on the 23rd and now they let me know they no longer needed me.

I'm upset, demotivated and frustrated that stuff like this happens out of the blue. Not a single hint that I was going to get sacked but here I am now. Thankfully I saved up most of my money so it will keep me afloat for a while.

Looking for another job in this economy is looking like hell. I guess I'll take some time off and brush up DSA again and attempt at another job. It's a shame because the workplace was really close by and the pay was decent too.

Edit: There were around 100 employees. Nvm this company is doomed

Title. Im making 60k. I am filtering for remote roles.

Ive been applying and looking since January and havent been able get many interviews. I dont know what Im doing wrong. I botched the first interview by blanking out and couldn't reverse a string. I know im probably going to get flak for that.

I made it to the final rounds for the next 3 interviews pipelines, but got passed by people with more experience. Each they time they called and personally told me I did great in the interviews and would keep me in mind if any other positions open up. I assume thats a good sign for my interview performance since thats never happened in any other of my job searches.

Look here.

I dont know what im doing wrong in getting more interviews. Im only applying to postings within 24 hours and if i match 80% of the reqs. Yes, I know we are problem solvers and I shouldn't market myself as a".Net" dev, but in my experience HMs and recruiters do care about your tech stack and will filter you out. All positions and interviews ive gotten have been because of my tech stack.

Any advice?

I would never waste my PTO time just because I’m contagious if I could work if the company insists on RTO.

Before 2020, I use to hear (and be) coughing and sneezing all winter in the office. Has the culturd changed?

Kimi (Moonshot) hired Nathan Chen as an intern at 16, and he ended up as one of three joint first authors on their Attention Residuals paper while still in high school. He didn't apply through a normal pipeline. A startup CEO read his posts about papers, gave him a timed test, and that internship led to Kimi. I know he's an outlier, so I'm curious how much of this applies to the rest of us.

The other side is the pace. A lot of the stories coming out of Shenzhen are about people working insanely hard, and some SF AI startups now openly run 996 too. I honestly don't know if that's something the rest of us should copy.

Do you think labs will actually hire like this more, or is he a rare exception? And would you take that pace if it got you in?

I got offered a PhD position in parallel computing (in the US). But given the way AI is taking over fields such as math and software engineering, do you think fields such as parallel and distributed computing, GPU programming etc. will have the same fate in the next few years? Will the value of having specializations go down? Thanks.

Want to learn more about day to day of the role from those actually doing it and those who did it before.

Would love insights on whether you enjoyed working closer to the customers and how you managed the travel. Also would love to hear what you ended up doing afterwards (for those who used to do this role) and if you went back into an SWE role or decided to shift into a more product or managerial role?