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Ask HN: Is Programming Dead?

On X people claim 100s of thousands of tech layoffs, ghost jobs, a dead industry. I don't see this anywhere else. Hackernews seems alive, wellfound seems alive (though impossible to get an interview) recruiters seem alive, though seemingly have no jobs. What is going on? What is reality? I am asking this on X and dev.to as well. Are we being silently replaced?

Edit:

I see posts like this often on X: https://x.com/Scobleizer/status/1836662119770849535

Well, everyone open sourced their shit, and put it on github, because it was trendy. In 10 years, programmers will become AI assistants at best, lol.

2 hours agolofaszvanitt

I think you're just seeing the results of years of over-hiring, followed by a slight downturn. When money is cheap, companies over-hire. And when money is expensive, companies fire/layoff/whatever.

In this variation of musical chairs, you need to be seated before the music stops.

3 hours agostray

Possibly but I've been at it for 20 years - this is the first time I've experienced a drought like this.

3 hours agow4ffl35

34 years for me -- and this looks a lot like 2000 to me.

an hour agostray

For some, Yes. If there is a surpresa of lets say 50%, lots of people will need to change market

2 hours agomeiraleal

It’s been going on since 2022 here in California

3 hours agocranberryturkey

Are jobs being consolidated? Businesses starting but just don't need employees? AI can't do the job yet - is it people with little to no programming skills trying to ChatGPT their way through it?

The phenomenon seems to extend beyond California. I see many job listings constantly updated on Wellfound and elsewhere. Are these actually ghost jobs?

3 hours agow4ffl35

No for tech anyway i think it just all the VC money dried up after they raised interest rates. No free money anymore so now that they are starting to lower interest rates, I expect it to improve in about a year.

2 hours agocranberryturkey

Not yet.

3 hours agoKingOfCoders

Thanks for responding, but this isn't super helpful - my experience has been that it is next to impossible to get a job interview as of the last year or so.

This is anecdotal, but it matches up with what I'm seeing people on social media say.

3 hours agow4ffl35
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