I have been refusing to see how steep the decline has been and have hoped for things to improve, falsely believing it’s rather a cycle and not a downward spiral. I missed several opportunities to move on. I can’t know what would have happened in those other companies, but I’m bothered by it anyway. I think I reached that point where I significantly narrowed my options by staying here for too long. That in the moment when likelihood of being laid off exponentially increased and the tech job market is horrid. Well….
6 replies (most recent on top)
I feel for you, I definitely stayed way too long. If you work in the hardware product side of the business, I'm afraid that hardware is just legacy. I am close to retirement and in a senior enough role to stick it out, but if you are young and thinking you need to work for 10 or more years, I would really focus on re-skilling in software.
@OP+1uM9R7j5 if you entertained the job opportunities that came your way, but chose to stay, you had your reasons. It’s easier for most of us to stay in a work environment we know with what we know over taking uncomfortable risks with our career.
If you've NOT gone to a top university, NOT worked at a top company, NOT studied a rigorous language/analytical field I list above, + NOT built some impressive publicly viewable software on your own, I'd say: "Stay OUT of software engineering! Seek a non-tech job. The market is too tough now."
I was laid off by Dell in the August massacre. Many dell roles do not match up well with jobs in the market. It was a harsh realization that the career pathing and development at Dell do leave you in a vulnerable spot.
How long was too long? Under 5 years and you should be okay.
As for the market. things ebb and flow. 2025 is looking to be a better year.
I think most are recognizing the recession started in 2023.
Dell su-ks the life out of you and if you get laid off you never had the time to develop any real in demand skill. It su-ks and I empathize