Why are people acting like this is done? Many more will lose their jobs before this is truly over. This is, at best, a short reprieve.
6 replies (most recent on top)
It's not over
Right, because it's never "over". There will always be more RIFs, reorgs, and restructuring on the horizon.
@c4 " IC5 SDE, replaced by AI." = I really doubt an IC5 developer could be replaced by an AI, though it's possible that higher ups believe that it's possible. As the saying goes, FAFO. Who will peer review AI generated code? Another AI?
Rumor is another mass layoff is coming in early November.
I was part of the September cuts just last week—15 years gone in a 30-minute “status update” meeting. IC5 SDE, replaced by AI. Who would have thought?
My mistake was believing U.S. developers were safe.
My mistake was thinking institutional knowledge, technical leadership, and patents offered protection.
My mistake was trusting loyalty to a company would matter in the end.
The truth is no one is safe in these latest rounds. Stay vigilant.
Does it mean AI isn’t replacing pure development jobs outside support jobs such as QA, DevOps etc… yet?
There's been a lot of talk about a new outsourcing law, and while it might provide a temporary lift for American jobs by shifting work from expensive offshore centers to lower-cost domestic hubs like Nashville or Texas, it's not the main issue. The Bay Area will likely remain a hub for executive-level roles.
The more significant disruptor is AI. It's already decimating projects in QA, DevOps, Legacy Products and internal automation. These roles are becoming obsolete because AI can handle repetitive, process-oriented tasks with far greater efficiency than human teams.
AI projects don't guarantee long-term job security. The core work often involves a one-time effort: feeding data and training a model. Once a model is stable, the ongoing work is largely maintenance and data flow, which can be automated by pipelines and crawlers.
The market is also flooded with "AI candidates." This has led to a major challenge in hiring, as managers must now filter through resumes that overstate skills. This trend will backfire for those who lack genuine expertise. Moving forward, success hinges on constant adaptation and a truly skilled team. Relying on office politics is no longer a viable strategy for survival.
Its time to find out something where your skills match. Where your passion works. Might be a different industry where you can apply your computer skills.
And how would you prefer to act? There is no point in keep worrying and talking about it if there is nothing we can do to influence this. So update CV and LinkedIn, look for opportunities but otherwise life goes on...