The Uncertain Future of Coding Careers and Why I'm Still Hopeful

Summary

The Uncertain Future of Coding Careers and Why I'm Still Hopeful A friend of mine, bright, driven, and relatively new to programming, asked me a heavy question the other day. “Did I make a mistake? Did I choose the right career?” The question hung in the air. It wasn’t born from a bad day or a frustrating bug. It came from a much deeper place of anxiety, one that I suspect many in our industry are feeling right now. They saw recent waves of layoffs, they read the headlines about Artificial Intelligence, and they felt the ground shifting under their feet. The promise of a stable, in-demand career in tech, which seemed like a sure thing just a few years ago, now felt fragile. “I’m so early in my career,” they said, “I worry if I’ll even have a job in a few years. It’s hard to stay motivated.” I had to be honest. I hear them. Loud and clear. I’m no expert, and my perspective is limited to my own journey, roughly 28 years in the tech world, nearly 15 of those as a full time software developer. I’ve seen a few cycles of boom and bust, but I’ll admit, this moment feels different. When I first got access to GitHub Copilot a few years ago, I had my own panic. I’m in my 40s. Was I becoming a fossil? How could I keep up? That initial fear, however, eventually gave way to something else, a fire. It was a rallying cry to push myself, to embrace my love for learning, and to continuously grow. It reinforced a mindset I’ve tried to cultivate over the years, to constantly work to make my current role obsolete, because in doing so, I’m constantly working my way into my next one. This is the sober part of the conversation, the industry has pendulums. Companies hire like mad for whatever reason, and then they overcorrect with layoffs. It’s a stressful reality. Imposter syndrome, that nagging feeling of being a fraud, doesn’t go away. I still feel it. But over time, I’ve learned to reframe it. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all the brilliant people around me, I now feel a sense of a...