For me, it's been the opposite: the last 2 years have been the best time I've had working in tech since the early 2010s.
Around 2019 I was seriously considering leaving the field (if it didn't pay so much) as the entire industry had turned into a bunch of leet code grinding, TC chasing, mediocre drones. It was incredibly hard to find people working on actual problems let alone challenging/interesting ones. Nobody I worked with for years cared one bit about programming or computer science. Nobody learned anything for fun, nobody hacked on personal projects during the weekend, and if they were interest in their field it was only so they could add a few more bullet points to their resume.
But the last two years I've worked with several teams doing really cool work, found teams that are entirely made up of scrappy, smart people. Starting building projects using a range of new tricks and techniques (mostly around AI).
Right now there are so many small teams working on hard problems getting funding. So many interesting, talented and down right weird programmers are being sought after again. People who like to create things and solve problems are the ones getting work again (my experience was these people were just labeled as trouble makers before).
I'm probably getting, inflation adjusted, paid the least that I have in a long time, but finally work is enjoyable again. I get to hack on things with other people who are obsessed with hacking on things.
Where did you find your team, or all these small teams? I don't suppose it's through regular job boards, is it through more intimate channels like irl events, connections?
I agree. Despite high compensation and a hiring boom, or perhaps because of it, 2020-2022 was the worst time to work in tech. I knew interns in 2012 who could code circles around those bootcampers turned “staff engineers” in 2021. Everyone at my series B employer turned into a “manager” or “leader” overnight. Being a shitty B2B SaaS meant that sales ran the show and our product was absolute dogshit.
2023 was awful too because everyone stayed put — we somehow avoided layoffs — even though they were absolutely miserable.
Now in 2024, I’ve just started a job search and things seem much better. There’s actual innovation now and I feel a sense of optimism about the future of tech that I haven’t in 10 years.
> I knew interns in 2012 who could code circles around those bootcampers turned “staff engineers” in 2021. Everyone at my series B employer turned into a “manager” or “leader” overnight.
Thought it was just me seeing this. The title inflation is out of control. "Senior" titles lacking basic fundamental "table stakes" skills.
The whole AI thing is renewing interest in self-hosted infra which happens to be a specialty of mine. Cutting out the "cloud" means having people that actually understand how things work, which means better colleagues, bosses that appreciate what I know and can do and less dealing with bullshit vendor garbage.
I don't know how long this AI fad will last or if the cloud providers will find a way to make their offerings affordable vs self-hosting going forward but for now I'm just enjoying renewed relevancy of one of my more enjoyable skill sets.
Yeah fair, I could see why it’s good for us who has a decent chunk of experience. Kinda makes sense from managerial perspective as well - lay off bunch of under-performers/juniors, hire back other seniors from other companies that got laid off and save 25-30% while delivering about the same results. I’m over-simplifying it, but we’re going through an over-correction phase, in my opinion.
For me, it's been the opposite: the last 2 years have been the best time I've had working in tech since the early 2010s.
Around 2019 I was seriously considering leaving the field (if it didn't pay so much) as the entire industry had turned into a bunch of leet code grinding, TC chasing, mediocre drones. It was incredibly hard to find people working on actual problems let alone challenging/interesting ones. Nobody I worked with for years cared one bit about programming or computer science. Nobody learned anything for fun, nobody hacked on personal projects during the weekend, and if they were interest in their field it was only so they could add a few more bullet points to their resume.
But the last two years I've worked with several teams doing really cool work, found teams that are entirely made up of scrappy, smart people. Starting building projects using a range of new tricks and techniques (mostly around AI).
Right now there are so many small teams working on hard problems getting funding. So many interesting, talented and down right weird programmers are being sought after again. People who like to create things and solve problems are the ones getting work again (my experience was these people were just labeled as trouble makers before).
I'm probably getting, inflation adjusted, paid the least that I have in a long time, but finally work is enjoyable again. I get to hack on things with other people who are obsessed with hacking on things.