and this is why I’m retiring in two weeks. They don’t get it, they never will. my work as a contractor trying to code review their slop and telling them what they needed to change fell on deaf ears. they cut me a cheque, thanked me for my time, and it was onto the next company/startup to perform the same song and dance.
i’m done. I’m done with the tech industry. 25 years just poof, gone. I’m in my mid 40s, i’m single, i own my condo, i’m done. I’m going to sit on my ass all day, play videogames, and clear out my codeberg and delete everything. I’m not even going to work on FOSS stuff anymore, i’m not going to maintain anything, I’m not going to contribute. I’m done. I want nothing to do with this crap.
Find a hobby or even many hobbies! its very important to stay busy and also connected to others or you’ll fall into depression. I’ve seen it happen. Volunteer somewhere where you interact with others. I say this as someone who’s been out of work 5 years and took the “bad” path to depression and watched many retires wither do to lack human connection and over all lethargic tendencies
Use or lose it is very real for anything humans do…
So get into exercise, get into FOSS, interact with people!
oh, mid-40 front end webdev here, i resigned this summer and i’m never looking back, moving into pastry. I haven’t touched my computer since mid september, all i do is whatever can be done on my phone or ipad (mostly entertainment, social and artistic activities).
Skill issue. I was long term unemployed and it was the most fun I’ve had as an adult. I leaned into my hobbies, built a boat, and became a published author. People who just wanna drink all day will do that whether they have a job or not 😂
You just followed the advice 😂 the point is about finding purpose and having the agency to establish your own direction. If you dont have that, you will get bored, and substances of all varieties are just a few steps from boredom.
Sounds like you did this while younger too, not everyone has the same amount of energy 20 years later.
Man so envious of that, I’m just a bit younger and I can’t retire like that.
I will be sailing my job until they fire me. Don’t know what will happen next but maybe I can find something that’s more down to earth with my local community and still brings some joy.
Congrats on your retirement!, I also just pulled the trigger myself. I think industry managers will need to see AI fail for a few years before they wake the eff up around where to use it and how to control it. Its like we are using horse reins on cars lately. The problem is that AI makes very compelling demos. It lets you fill in the blanks with what looks like an instant, high functioning product. You dont initially see the long tail of mediocrity and imprecision. We are used to just assuming tech products are consistent, endlessly iterable, and user friendly.
It is useful, I’ll give it that. But… we are barely doing code reviews anymore though, which is terrifying. Exec says invest in extra scoping an extra testing, and ignore the software creation part, let AI do its thing and trust it. May work. May not. My replacement will find out, poor bastard. Good luck to them.
I “retired” (fancy way of saying “was laid off”) from programming seven years ago and I haven’t written a line of code since. I’m happy to have completely missed out on the AI experience, although since I spent the last few years of my career mostly managing a team of offshore developers, I feel like I got close enough. Now I own my own small house and I drive a school bus and I couldn’t be happier. At some point AI will be driving the school buses (so that the kids can still go to school and have AI do all their work for them) but hopefully I will have died a painless death by then.
Yeah, I still need quite a bit more money but absolutely feeling the same thing, at least when I engage in generic terms.
So far in my actual day to day job, it hasn’t encroached in a unwelcome way, but I have more autonomy by being in charge of the project I work on. Pressure in the abstract has been there, but also pulled back since they decided slop-heavy usage is too expensive.
So this article is actualy why I’m allowing myself to be a little optimistic that I won’t feel the crushing weight of wanting to just get out of the whole industry, if the general mindset swings toward being frugal about AI token usage.
Fair. I have been a Linux hobbyist for decades. Up until being replaced by AI a year or two ago, I worked tech support and tech billing/contract roles for infrastructure and software giants. I have zero interest in perpetuating purportedly legal but sketchy billing schemes, using or selling AI, or enabling any foreign (or local) genocides or surveillance states with my work. I’d rather make less money and have my ethics a little less shattered.
The main reasons I work are to learn new skills and to get health insurance and money. I can learn skills on my own, I’m doing okay on money because my hobbies are mostly free or pay me a little bit. It’s mostly the threat of financial destitution, homelessness, and dying in a gutter because I caught a cold without health insurance that have kept me working full time, even when my freelancing was a big portion of my income. If we can solve the healthcare issue, everything will change for the better. I truly believe that.
If we can solve the healthcare issue, everything will change for the better. I truly believe that.
Exactly the reason the right have been fighting healthcare coverage so hard sor so long; they know that chaining your health insurance to the anchor around your neckyour job, it makes you less likely to leave.
Hell, assuming your company gets bought midyear, you can experience the joys of not having health insurance while you technically do have it! I had a few weeks this year effectively without insurance because the massive corpo fucknuggets that bought my comparatively tiny company weren’t competent enough to have the new insurance company (that they use for themselves) loaded with all of our info, so we got left in the lurch while being told for over a week that “they were loading our data now” (a week into the process) or they “had escalated the problem to the highest management” a full 5 days and a weekend before they started sending out paper letters with the info (that still didn’t fucking work for 2 days).
That sounds nightmarish, but not surprising in the least. The gap isn’t a big deal to them because they can just fix it later. If that inconveniences you, they’d like to kindly invite you to die of preventable diseases curled up under cardboard behind your nearest dumpster.
A former employer of mine once sent a notice that a 401k match had been miscalculated and they owed me extra money and they would deposit it in my account. I no longer worked there and had already transferred my 401k. The fee for the 401k company to cut a check was more than the amount my employer paid me, so it’s essentially just stuck there. They did their due diligence, right?
My last employer was better about this. Even though they were an evil megacorp, the benefits were on point and they had swarms of helpful people to explain and assist if you needed to use something. If I didn’t care about how my work effected other people, it would have been a dream.
I’m feeling more and more unity around the idea that the average person deserves a better deal than what we’re getting. I hope we can channel this class consciousness for good.
Take how much you spend in a typical year and multiply by 25. Pre-trump conventional wisdom theorized that you need that much, and you cant count the money you lock into the house you will live in, unless you plan to sell it when you need to and pay rent.
Unfortunately the truth is AI is probably going to get good enough that it won’t matter anymore. I guess I’m just hopeful that it’s gonna build a space elevator or something and we actually get some benefit out of surrendering agency. There are enough open weight models that the millionaires won’t get there tech bro mad max dysutopian fantasy world with them at the top.
Yes, I agree. While these highly intelligent people with degrees have their opinion, I would prefer to hear from buttnuggettroll453 about why AI will soon be better than all the humans.
yeah, everyone who have 0 knowledge always is like “IT WILL GET BETTER SOON REPLACE EVERYONE”
oh fuck off already, because you know shit doesn’t mean people know shit too
and this is why I’m retiring in two weeks. They don’t get it, they never will. my work as a contractor trying to code review their slop and telling them what they needed to change fell on deaf ears. they cut me a cheque, thanked me for my time, and it was onto the next company/startup to perform the same song and dance.
i’m done. I’m done with the tech industry. 25 years just poof, gone. I’m in my mid 40s, i’m single, i own my condo, i’m done. I’m going to sit on my ass all day, play videogames, and clear out my codeberg and delete everything. I’m not even going to work on FOSS stuff anymore, i’m not going to maintain anything, I’m not going to contribute. I’m done. I want nothing to do with this crap.
Sound like Peter from Office Space :)
And this is why I never turned my passion and hobby into a job.
Find a hobby or even many hobbies! its very important to stay busy and also connected to others or you’ll fall into depression. I’ve seen it happen. Volunteer somewhere where you interact with others. I say this as someone who’s been out of work 5 years and took the “bad” path to depression and watched many retires wither do to lack human connection and over all lethargic tendencies
Use or lose it is very real for anything humans do…
So get into exercise, get into FOSS, interact with people!
oh, mid-40 front end webdev here, i resigned this summer and i’m never looking back, moving into pastry. I haven’t touched my computer since mid september, all i do is whatever can be done on my phone or ipad (mostly entertainment, social and artistic activities).
Outside is pretty cool too.
Everyone I’ve seen retire at 40 ends up drinking every day from midday and watching game shows for hours on end.
Point being, find something else to focus on or you’ll drift.
And enjoy!
Skill issue. I was long term unemployed and it was the most fun I’ve had as an adult. I leaned into my hobbies, built a boat, and became a published author. People who just wanna drink all day will do that whether they have a job or not 😂
You just followed the advice 😂 the point is about finding purpose and having the agency to establish your own direction. If you dont have that, you will get bored, and substances of all varieties are just a few steps from boredom.
Sounds like you did this while younger too, not everyone has the same amount of energy 20 years later.
Man so envious of that, I’m just a bit younger and I can’t retire like that.
I will be sailing my job until they fire me. Don’t know what will happen next but maybe I can find something that’s more down to earth with my local community and still brings some joy.
Congrats on your retirement!, I also just pulled the trigger myself. I think industry managers will need to see AI fail for a few years before they wake the eff up around where to use it and how to control it. Its like we are using horse reins on cars lately. The problem is that AI makes very compelling demos. It lets you fill in the blanks with what looks like an instant, high functioning product. You dont initially see the long tail of mediocrity and imprecision. We are used to just assuming tech products are consistent, endlessly iterable, and user friendly.
It is useful, I’ll give it that. But… we are barely doing code reviews anymore though, which is terrifying. Exec says invest in extra scoping an extra testing, and ignore the software creation part, let AI do its thing and trust it. May work. May not. My replacement will find out, poor bastard. Good luck to them.
I “retired” (fancy way of saying “was laid off”) from programming seven years ago and I haven’t written a line of code since. I’m happy to have completely missed out on the AI experience, although since I spent the last few years of my career mostly managing a team of offshore developers, I feel like I got close enough. Now I own my own small house and I drive a school bus and I couldn’t be happier. At some point AI will be driving the school buses (so that the kids can still go to school and have AI do all their work for them) but hopefully I will have died a painless death by then.
Yeah, I still need quite a bit more money but absolutely feeling the same thing, at least when I engage in generic terms.
So far in my actual day to day job, it hasn’t encroached in a unwelcome way, but I have more autonomy by being in charge of the project I work on. Pressure in the abstract has been there, but also pulled back since they decided slop-heavy usage is too expensive.
So this article is actualy why I’m allowing myself to be a little optimistic that I won’t feel the crushing weight of wanting to just get out of the whole industry, if the general mindset swings toward being frugal about AI token usage.
good ending, took too long maybe
Fair. I have been a Linux hobbyist for decades. Up until being replaced by AI a year or two ago, I worked tech support and tech billing/contract roles for infrastructure and software giants. I have zero interest in perpetuating purportedly legal but sketchy billing schemes, using or selling AI, or enabling any foreign (or local) genocides or surveillance states with my work. I’d rather make less money and have my ethics a little less shattered.
The main reasons I work are to learn new skills and to get health insurance and money. I can learn skills on my own, I’m doing okay on money because my hobbies are mostly free or pay me a little bit. It’s mostly the threat of financial destitution, homelessness, and dying in a gutter because I caught a cold without health insurance that have kept me working full time, even when my freelancing was a big portion of my income. If we can solve the healthcare issue, everything will change for the better. I truly believe that.
Exactly the reason the right have been fighting healthcare coverage so hard sor so long; they know that chaining your health insurance to
the anchor around your neckyour job, it makes you less likely to leave.Hell, assuming your company gets bought midyear, you can experience the joys of not having health insurance while you technically do have it! I had a few weeks this year effectively without insurance because the massive corpo fucknuggets that bought my comparatively tiny company weren’t competent enough to have the new insurance company (that they use for themselves) loaded with all of our info, so we got left in the lurch while being told for over a week that “they were loading our data now” (a week into the process) or they “had escalated the problem to the highest management” a full 5 days and a weekend before they started sending out paper letters with the info (that still didn’t fucking work for 2 days).
That sounds nightmarish, but not surprising in the least. The gap isn’t a big deal to them because they can just fix it later. If that inconveniences you, they’d like to kindly invite you to die of preventable diseases curled up under cardboard behind your nearest dumpster.
A former employer of mine once sent a notice that a 401k match had been miscalculated and they owed me extra money and they would deposit it in my account. I no longer worked there and had already transferred my 401k. The fee for the 401k company to cut a check was more than the amount my employer paid me, so it’s essentially just stuck there. They did their due diligence, right?
My last employer was better about this. Even though they were an evil megacorp, the benefits were on point and they had swarms of helpful people to explain and assist if you needed to use something. If I didn’t care about how my work effected other people, it would have been a dream.
I’m feeling more and more unity around the idea that the average person deserves a better deal than what we’re getting. I hope we can channel this class consciousness for good.
man i’m like a couple years behind ya. could you tell me the ballpark of what you’re retiring on so i can be envious :D
I dunno if retiring during a global depression will be a good idea
Yes, cause working during a global depression is going to be so awesome
Fair
it is when you have a giant pile of money to live off of and buy stocks on firesale
Take how much you spend in a typical year and multiply by 25. Pre-trump conventional wisdom theorized that you need that much, and you cant count the money you lock into the house you will live in, unless you plan to sell it when you need to and pay rent.
Make sure your retirement is not in the hands of any banks or retirement funds.
They will all go belly up in case the bubble bursts.
Unfortunately the truth is AI is probably going to get good enough that it won’t matter anymore. I guess I’m just hopeful that it’s gonna build a space elevator or something and we actually get some benefit out of surrendering agency. There are enough open weight models that the millionaires won’t get there tech bro mad max dysutopian fantasy world with them at the top.
It’s quite literally not.
To paraphrase Doctrow, no matter how fast you breed horses, they will never foal a locomotive.
We might one day create AI that is good enough for this but it won’t be anything based on the currently trending transformer-based LLMs
Source: I completed a PhD in Natural Language Processing and transformers 2018-2022 and unfortunately for my own sanity I am still in the space
That’s cool but some guy who read a lot of Harry Potter fan fiction about it says we’re all gonna die. /s in case it’s needed lol.
what’s the p(doom) for me putting my phone in a blender for being reminded about this
I did my master’s thesis on AI feature extraction during the same time period. I’ll second what this person is saying.
Sure, you credentialed people have a certain view, but I will wait till I hear from a social media tech bro, thank you very much.
Yes, I agree. While these highly intelligent people with degrees have their opinion, I would prefer to hear from buttnuggettroll453 about why AI will soon be better than all the humans.
yeah, everyone who have 0 knowledge always is like “IT WILL GET BETTER SOON REPLACE EVERYONE” oh fuck off already, because you know shit doesn’t mean people know shit too
Well your angry about it aren’t you. Not sure how that’s my fault though.