Software engineers fear job loss due to AI
55 posts across 8 communities in the last 30 days; 62% from r/cscareerquestions.
“Ok so go quadruple your salary real quick since all these big tech engineers are so dumb lol So sick of weirdos projecting online [re: Be careful out there.]”
“Maybe you will disagree but software engineers have been very much bragging about automating and replacing jobs and during AI art era all we heard were “art is eye of the beholder. Who gets to tell us what art is?” All this stupid BS about how it’s not the journey it’s the…”
“That's where I am at now. my retirement is all spent years ago lol. I'm on the path of something pretty dark right now that I am forced into. Its like a funnel that I can't get out of. My passions are ignored, but one thing they don't ignore is when stuff happens to them. in…”
Several posts express concern about the future of software engineering careers. Users share feelings of uncertainty and doom related to advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly its impact on their professional roles.
SOURCES (60)
“Ok so go quadruple your salary real quick since all these big tech engineers are so dumb lol So sick of weirdos projecting online [re: Be careful out there.]”
“Congrats 😊 Nice to not just see constant doom [re: Got my first software developer position]”
“What is your job OP? Just wondering [re: Luddites and antis are getting louder and louder and might halt AI completely]”
“The average normie doesn't care about any of this. This is all subculture nonsense, especially in Reddit/terminally online tier circles. [re: How do you feel about Software Engineering reputation going from stereotypical “socially awkward “ but smart nerds to “tech bros” and downright “evil”]”
“Maybe you will disagree but software engineers have been very much bragging about automating and replacing jobs and during AI art era all we heard were “art is eye of the beholder. Who gets to tell us what art is?” All this stupid BS about how it’s not the journey it’s the destination. And now that the journey is gone for software engineers, now the realization has come clear that people yearn for the journey and not the destination [re: Why is their very little sympathy for programmers negative”
“Everyone who does SWE in industry is aware that they are actually becoming stupider. They aren’t just losing skills. They are genuinely becoming dumb.”
“It’s never been like this before. This is very different. It’s not external economic factors this time, the job is obsolete”
“Not sure, I wanted to do this all my life. I might try out the business side, which I also planned before. Maybe even a business unrelated to this field. There are still a lot of opportunities and interesting problems out there. I don’t see normal people that much affected by AI, they use it as a bettter Google.”
“That's where I am at now. my retirement is all spent years ago lol. I'm on the path of something pretty dark right now that I am forced into. Its like a funnel that I can't get out of. My passions are ignored, but one thing they don't ignore is when stuff happens to them. in minecraft!”
“Honestly, I feel like grind at work actually PREVENTS me from learning AI, whatever this learning could be. I just don't have time and mental capacity for it. During last break, even though I was busy helping wife with a kid, I really bumped my skills, because I could focus on learning, and boosted salary significantly after when started applying”
“I am worried if I take an one-year sabbatical, I may not get any job again due to AI.”
“solid take, the doom posting here really doesnt match the actual employment numbers”
“Im not great at coding but I really love the subjects and the math it offers. dont you think people here doom for a reason? A lot of layoffs, people with experience can't find jobs and ofc ai. Whats the point of love something when its just bad?”
“Nobody knows what will happen. I'm sorry. I've been a software developer for more than 20 years and I'm somewhat worried myself. I don't like AI that much, but I'm feeling pressured to use it more. The problem with AI is that its effects will go way beyond computer science. Everybody basically has to worry to some degree. I really believe that... when the day comes my job becomes obsolete, a large portion of white collar jobs will vanish too. And then what? We all go back to”
“What about the jobs? Aren't they will like get way less or most will disappear?”
“There are plenty of jobs available for the amount of engineers. There is not a lot of FANG jobs compared to the amount of engineers though. But the engineers complaining about the lack of work available are not the ones that would make it into FANG/adjacent anyway.”
“We are already 4 years into this. It's only gotten more expensive. How many more years do we need?”
“The point is to remind people that CS careers (for the most part) are dead.”
“This technology has massively affected us. Not really sure how you expect us to not talk about it. It’s already cost me a raise and might be causing me to leave cs altogether soon.”
“He is just giving false hope so people dont come after him. Rn every white collar worker is anxious and angry. If it wasn't those high-end security around them, they would be punching bags right now.”
Dario Party submitted by /u/Efistoffeles [link] [comments]
“it's not that the degree is a full year of coding, it's that they're staring down the barrel of an internship and a final project that are both explicitly coding-heavy, and when you already know you hate the work, that's a grind that feels endless. the workforce analogy doesn't land here either because the goal is to not end up in a job you despise, not to learn how to tolerate one prematurely the better move is to stop fighting the degree and start treating it like a means t”
“This so much. So many people here will stagnate career wise, like mainframe operators did back in the day. This thread is full of people who aren't in the industry, work at legacy companies that are behind, or are going to get left behind themselves very quick. People here have no idea the insane stuff you can build with properly integrated AI with your environment and infra. A lot of people here for some reason think AI coding = copy/pasting from a $20/month web agent into your IDE. One or”
“Didn't read it because the image is dumb enough. Not like we can just sit outside looking at a lake while Claude does our work. At least, not if we want to be employed. Got any non-naive opinions or is this all?”
“The job market isn’t going to shrink. It’s going to (and already is) transform. It’s becoming easier to develop software, but that doesn’t mean everyone can do it or that everyone wants to do it. There will still be a place for you, on the upper echelon, as someone who understands the nuts and bolts of the system better than others do. AI is a tool. Until we have robotics up to speed, your job as a wielder of that tool is safe. That’s what’s changing, you’ve got a great new tool to do your job.”
“OP claims to have left tech to join the US foreign service. Sounds plausible to me, idk why you assume it's fake.”
There other cheap alternatives and local models will be good enough soon.
You've seen Anthropic's IPO numbers they are horrifically unprofitable
“That doesn't explain why the same companies post the same jobs over and over and over and over”
Programmers are the ones we're talking about being replaced
“God you people are ridiculous. AI is wrong half the time STILL. We have AI integrated but it isnt taking my job away. 😂😂”
“Yeah I get it. And we will get there in time. It’s very much like they are still in university lots of “ I have to have the idea” and trying to “beat” coworkers.”
I'm optimistic about the long-term, but it's going to hurt for now.
“>I’ve just started working with this team after being asked to because their performance is terrible… speaks for itself really. AI Slop is a real thing, but fancy words does not mean AI Slop”
“Yeah but except that non-software engineers can do it and don't *really* need you, or at least don't need nearly as many software engineers. So what happens to your job? Are you still going to think it's great when it takes your job? I mean maybe it won't take jobs but idk, its looking pretty bad”
“I said breakneck acceleration not that it was not already been happening behind the scenes.”
“I think it will shift towards the AI-proof and offshoring-proof jobs that currently have a shortage. There is a shortage of police officers. There is a shortage of science, math, and special ed teachers. For the trades, there is a shortage of electricians, linemen, plumbers, construction workers, and elevator mechanics. Boiler operators are reporting people calling them and asking them to come work. I can understand crossing it off the list if someone has no confidence in their ability to do the”
“All I see are more useless KPIs and the fact that you're working with MSPs more than proves the point.”
“I was an SRE Engineer for years and lost everything due to AI. I now am doing construction work. It's nothing compared to what I used to make... There is no future for most jobs. IT just got hit first. Most people that still have a desk job will be discarded in the next few years. IT just came first because... Why not automate all of our coding? They said we would keep our jobs... Lol... Sick world we live in... Everything is going down to a pit... We are slaves.”
“Dang good time to have that as a specialty you must be an expert prompt engineer with a general understanding of a variety of IT subjects.”
“I guess it makes more sense he's talking about staff engineering... dumbass.”
“OP's post history on a 2 month old account: It’s over. All hope is lost. Your job can already be done by AI Are software engineer adjacent jobs in essentially dead? Office worker with 10 years of experience Senior software engineer with 10 years of experience AI isn’t just ending SWE careers, it’s setting up a societal collapse and nobody’s talking about it As someone with 20 years of experience in this field I really hope you're a bot because otherwise this is beyond pathetic”
“Happy Friday, everybody! I want to start by giving a big round of applause to everyone who contributed to driving software engineering to extinction. You people are a very special kind of ape. You ruined a high-paying, quite comfortable, and accessible career for everyone else just for validation. Speaking of success: this past quarter, our company grew by 9%, and we are forecasting growth of 24% this year. To reach our goal, and as part of our cost-effective initiatives, we have decided to redu”
“My last job was mostly agentic coding and whatever other hype stuff management was into that month. I fucking despised that crap and hated how my previous programmer skillset seemed to be experiencing extintion. Eventually they figured out they didn't need as many of us to get the same work done, so I got laid off along with a bunch of other people on my team. Job search was awful. I sent out hundreds of applications and got maybe a dozen interviews, and every single one had leetcode rounds”
“Every week same panic with new tool, then few months later everyone realize it still need human to check output and fix mistakes. Doom posts are not new thing in this field, maybe is just natural cycle”
“no, it's over dude. Adapt or just be happy tinkering with your private projects, because no one is going to pay you to develop the old way for much longer”
“Yeah I'm really only picking up on this stuff now. I hate AI as much as anyone, but my grief has reached the "acceptance" stage”