My Honest Thoughts On The Software Engineering Market In 2024

00:22:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcpZjrwhg_Q

Summary

TLDRThe video provides a comprehensive discussion on the state of the software engineering market in 2024, articulating both negative and positive aspects. The initial focus is on the struggling job market, especially for those with minimal experience, due to diminished hiring since 2022, influenced by rising interest rates and the realization that fewer software engineers might be sufficient for business needs. Additionally, advancements in AI, like ChatGPT, have increased workforce productivity, adding to the competitive pressure, but fears of AI replacing engineers are overstated. Despite these challenges, there remains optimism due to ongoing demand in various sectors, high salaries, and good work-life balance. The speaker encourages potential engineers to pursue the field, highlighting the need for strategic personal efforts in improving skills, preparing for interviews, and choosing roles in less affected sectors like blockchain and crypto. While the 'Golden Era' of tech in the late 2010s may have passed, software engineering still offers rewarding opportunities and a promising career path.

Takeaways

  • 💼 The job market for software engineers in 2024 is highly competitive, especially for those with less experience.
  • 📉 The industry's downturn stems from economic changes and the realization that previously hired talent might be excessive.
  • 🚀 AI, while beneficial for productivity, contributes to fewer job openings by reducing the need for large teams.
  • 🌐 Certain industries, like blockchain, still offer hiring opportunities despite wider trends.
  • 🔍 Job seekers should focus on strengthening their skills and networking to secure positions.
  • 🔨 Preparing thoroughly for interviews can increase chances of success in a competitive market.
  • 💡 Despite current challenges, software engineering remains a lucrative and well-balanced career option.
  • 🦾 AI won't imminently replace software engineers, due to the necessity of human oversight.
  • 🔄 The market dynamics have shifted from the 'Golden Era' but opportunities persist.
  • 🔑 Emphasis on personal development and adaptable strategies is crucial for aspiring engineers.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    In this section, the speaker discusses their honest thoughts on the software engineering market in 2024, starting with negative aspects. They express that it's a particularly difficult time to find a job in the industry, especially for those with no work experience up to about four to five years of experience. The speaker reflects on the ease of entering the tech industry around the 2010s, particularly between 2015 and 2022, when many people transitioned into tech careers due to high demand and lucrative salaries. However, the speaker notes that the situation has changed significantly since then, making the job market challenging now.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The speaker continues to elaborate on the negative trends in the software engineering market. They discuss economic changes in 2022, such as rising interest rates, which made it more difficult for companies to borrow or raise money, leading to fewer job openings and layoffs. Many software engineers were left competing for a limited number of roles. This competition includes less experienced engineers competing against senior engineers, leading to a tough job market. The speaker notes that this has created a high barrier for those seeking employment, emphasizing the importance of preparation, such as using tools like algoexpert.io, for securing interviews and jobs.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The speaker further delves into why the market may not improve soon, citing companies' realizations that they can operate with fewer engineers, partly due to reaching a maturation stage requiring fewer resources and over-hiring in the past. AI and its advancements exacerbate this issue, potentially reducing the need for large numbers of engineers as AI tools improve productivity. The fear of AI replacing software engineers looms, although the speaker hints that this might not be an immediate threat. The focus remains on the challenging aspects of the market and the uncertainties brought by technological advancements.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:22:47

    Despite the negativity, the speaker transitions into the positive aspects of the software engineering industry. They assert that companies are still hiring, and opportunities exist, mentioning specific companies like Meta and Google and industries like blockchain as places with job openings. The speaker argues against the fear of AI, suggesting it won't replace engineers soon and could increase productivity, thus fostering job security. Overall, they maintain that software engineering remains a viable and attractive career path, emphasizing the importance of focusing on personal development and seizing existing opportunities. The speaker concludes by balancing the past Golden Era's ease with the current market challenges, ultimately recommending software engineering as a worthwhile career.

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Why is the software engineering job market considered brutal in 2024?

    It's tough to find jobs, especially for those with no to four years of experience, due to high competition and fewer open positions.

  • What factors have contributed to the current job market conditions?

    The rise in interest rates, mass layoffs, reduced hiring, overhiring in the 2010s, and advancements in AI have all played a part.

  • What was the software engineering market like in the 2010s?

    It was a Golden Era with high demand for engineers, extensive hiring across the industry, and high salaries, especially from 2015 to 2022.

  • How has AI affected the software engineering industry?

    AI has increased engineer productivity but raised concerns about job redundancy, even though it likely won't fully replace engineers.

  • Are companies still hiring software engineers?

    Yes, companies like Meta and Google are still hiring, as well as industries like blockchain and crypto.

  • What positive aspects remain in the software engineering field?

    It remains a high-paying field with good work-life balance and ongoing demand in specific sectors.

  • Is AI expected to replace software engineers soon?

    AI is not expected to replace engineers imminently, as companies rely on human oversight and problem-solving capabilities.

  • Should an individual still consider a career in software engineering?

    Yes, despite the challenges, it's recommended due to high pay and a good work-life balance.

  • What can software engineers control in their job search?

    They can control their study of computer science, networking efforts, and preparation for job interviews.

  • What is the future outlook for software engineering?

    The field is becoming more standard, with significant opportunities remaining but higher barriers to entry than before.

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  • 00:00:00
    what's up everybody how's it going in
  • 00:00:02
    this video I'm going to share my honest
  • 00:00:04
    thoughts about the current software
  • 00:00:05
    engineering Market in
  • 00:00:07
    2024 I figure that the best way to do
  • 00:00:10
    that is to share first my unfiltered
  • 00:00:13
    negative thoughts about the software
  • 00:00:15
    engineering Market in 2024 and then to
  • 00:00:18
    share my unfiltered positive thoughts
  • 00:00:20
    about the market right now and then we
  • 00:00:22
    can kind of combine the two thoughts
  • 00:00:24
    together and come to a conclusion so
  • 00:00:28
    with that said I have to give you a
  • 00:00:30
    warning the first half of this video is
  • 00:00:31
    going to be quite negative so if you're
  • 00:00:34
    kind of feeling down right now if you're
  • 00:00:36
    struggling to get a job or something I
  • 00:00:38
    would encourage you to watch the entire
  • 00:00:40
    video because the first half is
  • 00:00:41
    definitely not going to motivate you or
  • 00:00:43
    make you feel any better it's going to
  • 00:00:44
    probably like make you feel even worse
  • 00:00:47
    but I do think that this is the best way
  • 00:00:48
    to share my honest thoughts about the
  • 00:00:50
    market so with that said the negative
  • 00:00:53
    thoughts about the software engineering
  • 00:00:55
    industry right now what is so negative
  • 00:00:57
    about it well to put it simply I think
  • 00:00:59
    it comes down to right now is a brutal
  • 00:01:04
    time to find a job as a software
  • 00:01:06
    engineer particularly for the software
  • 00:01:08
    Engineers that fall in the bracket of no
  • 00:01:11
    work experience all the way to four to
  • 00:01:15
    five years of work experience which is
  • 00:01:17
    basically senior software engineer at
  • 00:01:18
    that point so very very brutal to get a
  • 00:01:22
    job as a software engineer especially in
  • 00:01:24
    that bracket and what makes this even
  • 00:01:27
    worse the really depressing part of this
  • 00:01:29
    is that that honestly I don't think it's
  • 00:01:32
    going to get better anytime soon if ever
  • 00:01:37
    like there's a world where it doesn't
  • 00:01:40
    get better than right now now in order
  • 00:01:43
    to understand why it's so brutal right
  • 00:01:47
    now we have to rewind the clock a little
  • 00:01:50
    bit and go back to the Golden Era of
  • 00:01:53
    tech which I'd like to think is like the
  • 00:01:56
    2010s but particularly the latter half
  • 00:01:59
    of the 201 TS so let's say 2015 2016 and
  • 00:02:02
    beyond all the way to
  • 00:02:05
    2022 and uh going back there I'm going
  • 00:02:07
    to share uh very briefly my story how I
  • 00:02:10
    got into Tech because it's very relevant
  • 00:02:12
    here I got into Tech uh after I
  • 00:02:14
    graduated from college in 2016 I had
  • 00:02:16
    never written a line of code many of you
  • 00:02:17
    know this uh I had a degree in math and
  • 00:02:20
    um I remember the the few jobs that I
  • 00:02:23
    had applied to that had nothing to do
  • 00:02:25
    with tech nothing to do with software
  • 00:02:26
    engineering they were all offering like
  • 00:02:30
    the the sort of advertised salary ranges
  • 00:02:33
    were somewhere between like 40,000 to
  • 00:02:36
    $60,000 a year and this was in New York
  • 00:02:39
    City mindu which is a high cost of
  • 00:02:42
    living area arguably the highest cost of
  • 00:02:44
    living area in the United States and um
  • 00:02:47
    I remember I had some friends who were
  • 00:02:50
    like the same age as me just graduated
  • 00:02:52
    from college but with a computer science
  • 00:02:54
    degree who were Landing jobs that were
  • 00:02:56
    paying you know 110$ 1220 $130,000 a
  • 00:02:59
    year here in Silicon Valley and I was
  • 00:03:01
    like okay wait like what is going on
  • 00:03:04
    here and that's why I decided that I
  • 00:03:05
    need to learn to code I went to a coding
  • 00:03:08
    boot camp for about three months learned
  • 00:03:11
    to code really enjoyed it and then got a
  • 00:03:13
    job at Google which is right around the
  • 00:03:14
    time that I uh founded my company algo
  • 00:03:17
    expert and uh the key Point here is that
  • 00:03:21
    I was not the only person to do this
  • 00:03:23
    right there were many other people who
  • 00:03:25
    did this at the same time as me and then
  • 00:03:28
    after me you know after 2016 so in 2017
  • 00:03:30
    18 all the way through 2022 more and
  • 00:03:33
    more and more and more people did the
  • 00:03:36
    exact same thing now not all of them
  • 00:03:38
    were new grads like me many of them were
  • 00:03:40
    in other Industries you know they were
  • 00:03:42
    like two five 10 years 15 years into
  • 00:03:44
    their careers and they were like uh I'm
  • 00:03:46
    not making a lot of money or I just
  • 00:03:48
    don't really enjoy my job and they s
  • 00:03:50
    this opportunity in Tech and so they
  • 00:03:53
    flocked to it it was this feeling of you
  • 00:03:56
    know there is easy money to be made out
  • 00:03:59
    there easy good money not like bad money
  • 00:04:02
    not small money a lot of money to be
  • 00:04:04
    made out there with a low barrier to
  • 00:04:06
    entry I have to get in and so over these
  • 00:04:10
    you know the second half of the the 2020
  • 00:04:12
    2010's decade into 2020 and Beyond you
  • 00:04:16
    had hundreds of thousands of developers
  • 00:04:19
    that flocked into the industry and the
  • 00:04:23
    industry meaning the companies you know
  • 00:04:25
    software engineering companies or
  • 00:04:27
    companies hiring software engineers
  • 00:04:29
    welcomed them with open arms they hired
  • 00:04:33
    most of these people and the reason they
  • 00:04:35
    did is because back then everybody was
  • 00:04:38
    hiring can you imagine that back then
  • 00:04:40
    there was at least supposedly there was
  • 00:04:42
    a shortage of software Engineers like I
  • 00:04:45
    remember when I got in the field and and
  • 00:04:47
    during the few years after I got into
  • 00:04:48
    the field you kept hearing that there
  • 00:04:50
    was a shortage of software Engineers
  • 00:04:53
    there were not enough software Engineers
  • 00:04:56
    to fill the demand from companies like
  • 00:04:59
    companies were hiring too many rules
  • 00:05:01
    needed to fill too many positions and
  • 00:05:03
    there weren't enough software Engineers
  • 00:05:05
    or at least qualified software Engineers
  • 00:05:08
    very hard to imagine like right now in
  • 00:05:10
    2024 when everything seems so but
  • 00:05:13
    so okay you had all these people who
  • 00:05:15
    flocked into the industry and the
  • 00:05:16
    industry accepted them so everything was
  • 00:05:18
    you know great all sunshines and
  • 00:05:20
    rainbows until early to mid 2022 why
  • 00:05:25
    what happened in early to mid 2022
  • 00:05:27
    interest rates in the United States and
  • 00:05:30
    in many places in the world started to
  • 00:05:32
    go up and so that meant that slowly but
  • 00:05:36
    surely slowly but suddenly money became
  • 00:05:39
    very expensive to borrow money became
  • 00:05:42
    very expensive to raise and so what do
  • 00:05:45
    companies do when money becomes hard to
  • 00:05:48
    borrow money becomes more expensive to
  • 00:05:50
    borrow hard to raise they start to be
  • 00:05:52
    much more defensive of their money
  • 00:05:54
    suddenly Money Matters suddenly it
  • 00:05:56
    matters that you're profitable if you're
  • 00:05:58
    a big company it matters because you
  • 00:06:01
    want your stock price to keep going up
  • 00:06:03
    if you're a small company or like a
  • 00:06:04
    startup it matters because if you're not
  • 00:06:07
    profitable you die if you can't raise
  • 00:06:09
    money right and so what these companies
  • 00:06:12
    did is they started to know cut costs
  • 00:06:15
    you know we need to make sure that we
  • 00:06:16
    can make money that we can make a good
  • 00:06:18
    amount of money we cut costs and so they
  • 00:06:20
    stopped hiring they stopped or they
  • 00:06:22
    slowed hiring but a lot of them stopped
  • 00:06:24
    hiring altogether and then on top of
  • 00:06:27
    that many of them did layoffs so what
  • 00:06:30
    happens when so many companies stop
  • 00:06:31
    hiring and do layoffs well you've got
  • 00:06:35
    the entire cohort of like new upand
  • 00:06:38
    cominging software Engineers from 2021
  • 00:06:41
    to 2022 is that can't find a job
  • 00:06:45
    suddenly and then you've got the entire
  • 00:06:47
    like you've got you've got a huge amount
  • 00:06:50
    of software Engineers from the cohorts
  • 00:06:51
    of like 2016 all the way to 2022 that
  • 00:06:54
    get laid off so they get thrown back
  • 00:06:56
    into the market and they also need to
  • 00:06:58
    find a job so suddenly you've got all
  • 00:07:01
    these software Engineers competing for
  • 00:07:03
    the few jobs that are still available
  • 00:07:05
    cuz we have to clarify like it's not
  • 00:07:08
    like everybody stopped hiring it's not
  • 00:07:10
    like there were no more open software
  • 00:07:13
    engine positions completely whatsoever
  • 00:07:15
    no there were still some just way fewer
  • 00:07:18
    I think at the bottom of the market I
  • 00:07:20
    think there were like 70% or 65% fewer
  • 00:07:24
    open jobs um compared to the top in like
  • 00:07:27
    early to mid 2022 but so suddenly you've
  • 00:07:31
    got all these people competing for very
  • 00:07:34
    few positions and boom there in comes
  • 00:07:38
    the brutality of the current software
  • 00:07:41
    engineering job market and uh what makes
  • 00:07:43
    it really particularly tough is that
  • 00:07:46
    like you like for people who have no
  • 00:07:49
    work experience who who only have like
  • 00:07:51
    one to two years of work experience
  • 00:07:53
    they're competing against people of
  • 00:07:55
    their own level but they're also
  • 00:07:57
    competing against people who have three
  • 00:07:59
    four five maybe even six years of work
  • 00:08:01
    experience because think about it
  • 00:08:03
    imagine you're like a senior software
  • 00:08:06
    engineer at Google and you got laid off
  • 00:08:07
    in one of the Google layoffs and now the
  • 00:08:10
    only job that you can find is at let's
  • 00:08:13
    say a startup okay a startup called uh
  • 00:08:16
    XYZ and that startup XYZ is only hiring
  • 00:08:18
    for one software engineer and that
  • 00:08:20
    software engineer is going to get paid
  • 00:08:22
    $150,000 in let's say California okay
  • 00:08:26
    well for that senior software engineer
  • 00:08:28
    from Google who used to be making
  • 00:08:30
    $350,000 at Google like that is a an
  • 00:08:33
    entrylevel software engineering role you
  • 00:08:35
    know at least based on salary but if it
  • 00:08:37
    is the only software engineering role
  • 00:08:40
    that he or she can apply to and get then
  • 00:08:43
    they're still going to go after it right
  • 00:08:45
    and so all of a sudden all those
  • 00:08:47
    entrylevel people or Junior people
  • 00:08:49
    they're competing against that senior
  • 00:08:50
    person for the same job which makes it
  • 00:08:53
    really really brutal very brutal to uh
  • 00:08:56
    land an interview very brutal to
  • 00:08:58
    sometimes even find the open jobs
  • 00:09:00
    because a lot of companies they don't
  • 00:09:02
    even need to put their job posts on like
  • 00:09:04
    open you know job boards because they
  • 00:09:07
    get flooded with applications and
  • 00:09:08
    instead they can just like go to their
  • 00:09:11
    internal existing software engineers and
  • 00:09:13
    just get referrals like that um but and
  • 00:09:15
    then it's it's a lot harder also to pass
  • 00:09:18
    the interviews because if you've got you
  • 00:09:19
    know let's say like a thousand people
  • 00:09:21
    applying for one job or you know 10,000
  • 00:09:23
    people applying for one job you know you
  • 00:09:25
    narrow it down to like I don't know 50
  • 00:09:27
    people and then of those 50 people all
  • 00:09:29
    interviewing for that one position and
  • 00:09:31
    so the the bar to to pass is much higher
  • 00:09:34
    and uh yeah it's all around brutal now
  • 00:09:36
    of course if you do get one of those
  • 00:09:38
    highly coveted interviews you you want
  • 00:09:40
    to make sure that you prepare and that
  • 00:09:41
    you do very well because that's going to
  • 00:09:43
    you know be your your one shot at
  • 00:09:44
    Landing that job so here of course I'm
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    going to recommend that you check out my
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    company algoexpert algoexpert.io we've
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    got you know the best uh software
  • 00:09:51
    engineering interview prep materials
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    across all disciplines like coding
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    interviews systems design machine
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    learning front end definitely check it
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    out infrastructure iOS
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    um algoexpert.io us a promo code clam CM
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    for discount on the platform but so as
  • 00:10:05
    we just said yeah very very very brutal
  • 00:10:08
    market and the reason that it's not
  • 00:10:11
    going to get better anytime soon and
  • 00:10:13
    perhaps ever which to me is the is the
  • 00:10:16
    more negative part of this entire story
  • 00:10:20
    is that um companies have kind of
  • 00:10:24
    realized that they're not really worse
  • 00:10:27
    off now with you know half as many
  • 00:10:30
    software Engineers than they were before
  • 00:10:33
    and here to be honest I think you know
  • 00:10:35
    there's a few components at play uh one
  • 00:10:37
    of the components is that particularly
  • 00:10:40
    in the big companies like fan companies
  • 00:10:41
    Google meta Amazon uh a lot of them you
  • 00:10:44
    know throughout the 2010s they were in
  • 00:10:47
    their hyper growth mode um now you know
  • 00:10:50
    they've been alive for like 20 30 plus
  • 00:10:52
    years and some of them are really
  • 00:10:55
    reaching like maturation where it's a
  • 00:10:57
    lot more kind of like maintenance you
  • 00:10:59
    know improve the existing systems and
  • 00:11:01
    products which you know may or not be
  • 00:11:03
    may or may not be the best like you know
  • 00:11:06
    strategic way to keep the company going
  • 00:11:08
    but uh the point is like if they're not
  • 00:11:10
    in super hypergrowth mode they may not
  • 00:11:13
    need as many software Engineers as they
  • 00:11:15
    needed before and then also uh the other
  • 00:11:18
    the other component to this is just that
  • 00:11:19
    you know um you don't need that many
  • 00:11:22
    software Engineers I think a lot of
  • 00:11:23
    companies back in the the 2010s over
  • 00:11:26
    hired they saw everybody else was hiring
  • 00:11:28
    and they were like okay well we need to
  • 00:11:30
    hire two especially like in the startup
  • 00:11:32
    world it was like to raise money you had
  • 00:11:34
    to say that you were going to be hiring
  • 00:11:36
    100 people or 200 people which is just
  • 00:11:38
    complete nonsense if you know anything
  • 00:11:41
    about software engineer you know that
  • 00:11:42
    you know past a certain threshold you
  • 00:11:44
    start to lose productivity so the fact
  • 00:11:47
    that so many companies have realized
  • 00:11:48
    that they're basically better off with
  • 00:11:50
    fewer software Engineers really doesn't
  • 00:11:52
    help and then on top of that on top of
  • 00:11:55
    that you have two letters that got
  • 00:11:58
    sprinkled into the mix and that didn't
  • 00:12:01
    make anything any better and these two
  • 00:12:03
    letters are a i artificial intelligence
  • 00:12:07
    I think that you know we all knew that
  • 00:12:09
    AI was coming like during the 2010s uh
  • 00:12:12
    you know I kept hearing like machine
  • 00:12:13
    learning machine learning AI but it's
  • 00:12:15
    really in 2022 with the launch of Chad
  • 00:12:17
    GPT that things just started like to
  • 00:12:19
    explode and then you know year after
  • 00:12:21
    year month after month it's just been
  • 00:12:23
    absolutely insane and um AI has gotten
  • 00:12:26
    to the point where like you know there's
  • 00:12:29
    an argument to be made that maybe it's
  • 00:12:31
    going to obsolete software Engineers
  • 00:12:32
    altogether like this morning I saw
  • 00:12:33
    another video of like someone you know
  • 00:12:35
    demoing an AI tool that was doing like
  • 00:12:38
    front end Engineers work you know
  • 00:12:39
    building like a website with just like a
  • 00:12:41
    one paragraph prompt and it's like
  • 00:12:43
    actually legitimately pretty good and
  • 00:12:45
    impressive and like responsive design
  • 00:12:48
    and actual like you know uh clean UI and
  • 00:12:51
    and cool ux and all that but even if it
  • 00:12:55
    doesn't completely obsolete uh software
  • 00:12:57
    Engineers it's certainly making them way
  • 00:12:59
    more productive and so you know the idea
  • 00:13:01
    is like if your engineers are suddenly
  • 00:13:04
    doubly productive like do you need as
  • 00:13:06
    many Engineers or can you just cut your
  • 00:13:08
    software engineering Workforce in half
  • 00:13:10
    you know maybe you can cut it in half um
  • 00:13:12
    and so I think that that that's not
  • 00:13:13
    helping you know like the the whole AI
  • 00:13:16
    fear is not helping uh with the current
  • 00:13:21
    job market for software engineers and
  • 00:13:22
    it's certainly not helping with the like
  • 00:13:24
    psyche of software Engineers like that
  • 00:13:26
    that thought that you have in the back
  • 00:13:28
    of your mind of like am I going to be
  • 00:13:30
    completely obsolete within like five
  • 00:13:32
    years or three years or one year given
  • 00:13:35
    the the pace of AI you know that's not
  • 00:13:37
    helpful um and so yeah those are my
  • 00:13:40
    honest negative thoughts we're going to
  • 00:13:42
    get to the positive in a second those
  • 00:13:43
    are my honest negative thoughts on the
  • 00:13:45
    current software engineering Market in
  • 00:13:48
    2024 now let's get into the positive I
  • 00:13:52
    know that was a lot of negative if you
  • 00:13:54
    made it this far um what would be a
  • 00:13:56
    positive Emoji let me look on my like
  • 00:13:59
    what's a positive Emoji okay if you made
  • 00:14:01
    it this far in the video just put a a
  • 00:14:03
    party emoji so whether it's like the
  • 00:14:05
    confetti or like the the little Emoji
  • 00:14:07
    that's like blowing the the party thing
  • 00:14:10
    or like you know a balloon just put one
  • 00:14:12
    of those emojis if you made it this far
  • 00:14:13
    in the video and I'll try to hard it um
  • 00:14:16
    that that'll that'll uh tell me that you
  • 00:14:18
    you made it through the the negative uh
  • 00:14:20
    part of the video so the positive part
  • 00:14:22
    of the video okay what are my positive
  • 00:14:24
    thoughts about the industry well first
  • 00:14:26
    and foremost um companies are still
  • 00:14:29
    hiring flat out just got to say it like
  • 00:14:31
    there are still jobs out there uh and a
  • 00:14:33
    good amount of them um anecdotally I can
  • 00:14:36
    tell you that uh I've been contacted
  • 00:14:38
    numerous times now by uh recruiters at
  • 00:14:41
    meta and Google asking me if I want to
  • 00:14:43
    come back to work there now granted I
  • 00:14:45
    worked at those companies so they're
  • 00:14:47
    asking me if I want to come back but
  • 00:14:49
    still that means that they're hiring and
  • 00:14:51
    excuse me the most recent of these
  • 00:14:53
    emails was uh just like a month ago I
  • 00:14:56
    think or two months ago and I also had
  • 00:14:58
    uh one of my friends he was my cooworker
  • 00:15:00
    at Google he joined Facebook right after
  • 00:15:02
    I did he's still there you know like
  • 00:15:04
    four five years later now he got
  • 00:15:07
    promoted and he uh just a week ago told
  • 00:15:09
    me that like if I ever wanted to come
  • 00:15:11
    back at you know meta his team has
  • 00:15:12
    headcount so they're hiring um and just
  • 00:15:15
    you know again anecdotally speaking I've
  • 00:15:17
    heard from a lot of people that meta is
  • 00:15:20
    hiring and actually quite aggressively
  • 00:15:22
    within the context of like the current
  • 00:15:24
    market but they are hiring quite
  • 00:15:26
    aggressively so um you know companies
  • 00:15:28
    are hiring there's a lot of pockets in
  • 00:15:32
    the world that are hiring like just
  • 00:15:34
    because one industry has been really
  • 00:15:36
    badly affected does it mean that all
  • 00:15:38
    Industries have been badly affected
  • 00:15:39
    remember during the pandemic you know
  • 00:15:41
    some industries were really like
  • 00:15:43
    destroyed While others were thriving and
  • 00:15:45
    by the way like you know during the
  • 00:15:47
    pandemic tons of people got into
  • 00:15:48
    software engineering right because it
  • 00:15:49
    was so easy you could do it remotely but
  • 00:15:51
    so here you know one example that I gave
  • 00:15:53
    in a recent video I'll give it again is
  • 00:15:54
    like the blockchain industry crypto
  • 00:15:56
    industry uh they're hiring a lot two
  • 00:15:59
    companies that come to mind are coinbase
  • 00:16:01
    and chain link Labs they're both remote
  • 00:16:03
    companies they're both you know really
  • 00:16:05
    like leaders in the space and they're
  • 00:16:07
    hiring so if you're a software engineer
  • 00:16:08
    go check out their career pages and many
  • 00:16:10
    other companies in that space and uh
  • 00:16:12
    just in general like I don't know like
  • 00:16:14
    Airlines you know maybe airlines are
  • 00:16:16
    hiring or maybe uh credit card companies
  • 00:16:18
    are hiring you're just got to look
  • 00:16:19
    around right and uh you will find uh
  • 00:16:22
    some open jobs now the second thing that
  • 00:16:26
    I think is not all doom and gloom and is
  • 00:16:28
    actually quite positive is AI I will
  • 00:16:31
    take the reverse side of that argument
  • 00:16:32
    before that I don't think AI is
  • 00:16:34
    something that you should fear I really
  • 00:16:36
    really don't think that AI is going to
  • 00:16:38
    replace software Engineers even though I
  • 00:16:40
    will concede that AI is extremely
  • 00:16:43
    impressive and the pace of advancement
  • 00:16:46
    is like starting to make you feel like
  • 00:16:47
    huh it's going to be able to do things
  • 00:16:49
    that I never thought were conceivable
  • 00:16:52
    before however it I don't think it's
  • 00:16:55
    going to replace software engineers at
  • 00:16:56
    least not anytime soon like not in the
  • 00:16:58
    next five to 10 years and you know the
  • 00:17:00
    best point I can give you is like you
  • 00:17:03
    you you are delusional if you think that
  • 00:17:05
    a sane rational competitive business is
  • 00:17:10
    going to risk like getting rid of all
  • 00:17:12
    their software engineers and replacing
  • 00:17:15
    them with AI that just makes no sense
  • 00:17:17
    like the risk of that the risk of
  • 00:17:19
    suddenly you have a bug that is like
  • 00:17:20
    unfixable or your entire website or
  • 00:17:22
    company goes down and you you can't do
  • 00:17:24
    anything about it because you just have
  • 00:17:25
    an AI that like is stuck is just
  • 00:17:27
    ridiculous and so I really don't think
  • 00:17:29
    that AI is going to completely replace
  • 00:17:30
    software engineers and even the whole
  • 00:17:32
    thing about like it makes them so
  • 00:17:34
    productive that suddenly you need fewer
  • 00:17:35
    Engineers I don't think that's like
  • 00:17:38
    quite accurate I think that maybe for
  • 00:17:40
    for a few companies for some companies
  • 00:17:42
    where it's like hey we really only need
  • 00:17:46
    one or two software engineers and if
  • 00:17:48
    they have ai we truly have no reason to
  • 00:17:51
    hire a third
  • 00:17:52
    engineer okay fine maybe those like AI
  • 00:17:55
    will have a bit of an impact you'll get
  • 00:17:57
    only two two workers instead of three
  • 00:18:00
    but I think for most companies
  • 00:18:01
    especially like the ones that are in
  • 00:18:03
    hyper growth mode and and that are you
  • 00:18:05
    know constantly trying to to to beat out
  • 00:18:07
    the competition and everything like you
  • 00:18:09
    want your your your Workforce to be as
  • 00:18:12
    productive as possible and so if all
  • 00:18:14
    your engineers you've got 10 engineers
  • 00:18:16
    and suddenly they're 10x Engineers great
  • 00:18:18
    you're going to have 100x the the
  • 00:18:20
    productivity um and you're not going to
  • 00:18:22
    just like cut them in half you know
  • 00:18:24
    there's always more work to be done and
  • 00:18:26
    you know this brings me to to to another
  • 00:18:28
    point which is
  • 00:18:30
    like software engineering is not going
  • 00:18:34
    anywhere I think like the some people
  • 00:18:36
    are just leaning too much into the
  • 00:18:38
    dorismar engineering is gone you know
  • 00:18:40
    software engineering is a is a dying
  • 00:18:42
    industry like no that's akin to if you
  • 00:18:45
    had said you know a thousand years ago
  • 00:18:47
    400 years ago 100 years ago that you
  • 00:18:49
    know construction workers weren't going
  • 00:18:50
    to be needed in the future because you
  • 00:18:52
    would be able to build things way
  • 00:18:54
    quicker and and everything it's like no
  • 00:18:56
    you're just going to build more things
  • 00:18:58
    and so therefore you're going to need
  • 00:19:00
    more and more construction workers I
  • 00:19:01
    feel like they're more construction
  • 00:19:03
    workers right now than ever before so I
  • 00:19:05
    think the same is is going to be true
  • 00:19:07
    for software engineering I think like
  • 00:19:09
    there the field is not at all going to
  • 00:19:12
    die it's still it's still going to going
  • 00:19:14
    to thrive and keep on thriving and I
  • 00:19:16
    guess the final sort of positive thought
  • 00:19:18
    that I have here is overall I think that
  • 00:19:21
    like it is very
  • 00:19:24
    pointless for you to
  • 00:19:27
    to let
  • 00:19:29
    like it's very pointless for you to to
  • 00:19:32
    let these external things that you can't
  • 00:19:34
    control like interest rates or like AI
  • 00:19:38
    uh lead your life so instead of like
  • 00:19:40
    worrying too much about these things
  • 00:19:42
    that you can't control why don't you
  • 00:19:44
    worry about the things that you can
  • 00:19:45
    control like you can control how hard
  • 00:19:48
    you study computer science you can
  • 00:19:50
    control how uh put how much time and
  • 00:19:53
    effort you put into networking and into
  • 00:19:55
    applying to jobs you can't control how
  • 00:19:57
    much time and effort you put into
  • 00:19:58
    preparing for uh coding interviews or
  • 00:20:00
    systems design interviews or whatever
  • 00:20:01
    you know algoexpert.io um you you can
  • 00:20:04
    control all these things and so you know
  • 00:20:06
    why don't you just try and focus on
  • 00:20:08
    being the best version of yourself out
  • 00:20:10
    competing everybody and getting that one
  • 00:20:12
    position that has tons of competition
  • 00:20:14
    around it like it's still doable you
  • 00:20:15
    know there's going to be someone who
  • 00:20:17
    gets that position and it's not always
  • 00:20:19
    going to be the person with the most uh
  • 00:20:20
    work experience so um you know you
  • 00:20:23
    should uh you know grab control of your
  • 00:20:26
    life you know you have you have your own
  • 00:20:29
    agency uh you have you you are in
  • 00:20:31
    control of your own destiny for the most
  • 00:20:32
    part um now as as sort of like final
  • 00:20:36
    thoughts mixing the negative and the
  • 00:20:38
    positive together um I will say that
  • 00:20:42
    overall I think that the Golden Era of
  • 00:20:45
    tech as we knew it in the 2010s
  • 00:20:47
    particularly the second half of the
  • 00:20:49
    2010s is probably over I think that the
  • 00:20:52
    like back then it was the Golden Era
  • 00:20:54
    because it was the easiest meaning the
  • 00:20:58
    the the least amount of like barrier to
  • 00:21:00
    entry the highest paid and the most like
  • 00:21:04
    relaxing and with the best workwise
  • 00:21:07
    balance career out of basically in a
  • 00:21:11
    career in my opinion and I think in a
  • 00:21:13
    lot of people's opinion which is why you
  • 00:21:14
    had so many people jumping into it now
  • 00:21:18
    the only part that I think is not true
  • 00:21:20
    is like the barrier to entry it's no
  • 00:21:22
    longer the easiest barrier to entry like
  • 00:21:24
    it has some barriers to entry which is
  • 00:21:26
    like there's a lot of competition right
  • 00:21:27
    now and they're there aren't as many
  • 00:21:29
    like open jobs as there used to be but
  • 00:21:31
    it's still very high paying it's still
  • 00:21:33
    very chill like very good work life
  • 00:21:35
    balance compared to most other
  • 00:21:37
    Industries and like with like all things
  • 00:21:41
    considered I think is just software
  • 00:21:42
    engineer engineering is now more of a
  • 00:21:45
    normal typical career that has pros and
  • 00:21:47
    cons high paying great work life balance
  • 00:21:51
    you know all things considered you're
  • 00:21:52
    not really like exhausting yourself
  • 00:21:54
    during the day when you're you know a
  • 00:21:55
    software engineer but it's tough to get
  • 00:21:57
    it's tougher to get the it was before I
  • 00:22:00
    would still recommend to someone who's
  • 00:22:01
    like 18 or in their 20s who doesn't know
  • 00:22:04
    what they want to do with their life and
  • 00:22:05
    just wants to make like good money have
  • 00:22:07
    a good life you know I would still say
  • 00:22:09
    like get into software engineering I
  • 00:22:10
    don't think that there's a a better path
  • 00:22:13
    than software engineering despite the
  • 00:22:14
    fact that it's tough to get into
  • 00:22:15
    software engineering right now
  • 00:22:17
    particularly as an entry-level developer
  • 00:22:19
    I still think it's the best career path
  • 00:22:21
    so these are my honest unfiltered
  • 00:22:25
    thoughts on the industry right now in
  • 00:22:26
    2024 let me know what you think think
  • 00:22:28
    about my thoughts in the comments below
  • 00:22:30
    do you agree do you disagree do you have
  • 00:22:32
    any thoughts that you want to share
  • 00:22:34
    definitely let me know in the comments
  • 00:22:36
    and uh don't forget to smash the like
  • 00:22:37
    button really helps me out uh subscribe
  • 00:22:39
    to the channel if you haven't already
  • 00:22:41
    follow me on all my other social media
  • 00:22:43
    and I will see you in the next video
Tags
  • software engineering
  • job market
  • AI
  • 2024
  • career advice
  • hiring trends
  • work-life balance
  • technology industry
  • software development
  • economic impact