“After Christopher Pack earned a master's degree in computer science in 2022, he immediately landed a software job in California's Bay Area. Hiring was booming. His tech degree felt foolproof.
Four years later, the 27-year-old has grown much more wary about his future.
"I feel like I got on the last plane out of Vietnam," Pack said, even though he has managed to hold on to his job. "I don't think I can plan for a normal-length career, at least in this field."
Pack is grappling with an unusual feeling for software engineers and related tech workers: vulnerability. Coming out of the pandemic, such workers were easily landing jobs while raking in enviable six-figure salaries, generous perks and lax remote-work rules. "Learn to code" was the mantra for young strivers. Between February 2020 and February 2023, the number of people working in computer-systems design and related jobs increased 11%, according to the Labor Department.
Tech workers have since come to grips with a confluence of challenges: big companies shedding staff after years of aggressive hiring, a pullback from generous work-from-home allowances, and, most recently, the dizzying rise of AI that is being trained to code.
Software developers are on the front lines of these changes.
Job openings for software developers through late May are down about 70% from the 2022 peak, although they have improved slightly from a low last spring, according to jobs site Indeed. These postings are also significantly below pre-Covid levels, even as overall job postings across all industries are up slightly since early 2020.
While the AI boom is creating opportunities for experienced developers who can help steer and debug the massive outputs of AI coding platforms, there are still many software engineers with decadeslong careers who are seeing their options dwindle. Entry-level candidates are having a tougher time landing jobs. AI-related layoffs, including thousands recently at Meta, have rattled tech workers at large.
The Labor Department said employment in the information sector, which includes some tech jobs, has declined by 332,000, or 11%, between its November 2022 peak and May.
Some tech workers say they are now looking to switch careers into fields they think are less at risk from automation. Others are hoarding cash in preparation for a layoff they consider inevitable, or placing risky bets on the stock market to get rich before their job and salary evaporates.
Undergraduate enrollment in four-year computer- and information-science degrees fell by 8.1% last fall from the previous year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, a sharp reversal from the 10.4% growth recorded in 2022.” [1]
1. Business News: Software Engineers Contend With AI. Putzier, Konrad. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 15 June 2026: B3.
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