Talking to friends in software orgs recently, I've been struck by commonalities across countries and sectors:

Executives are driving "efficiency," by which they mean maximizing time spent on direct value-creation activities.

BUT there's a tacit, industry-wide assumption that writing code is the only value-creating activity and that all coding generates value.

It's like everyone has prioritized instantaneous boat speed and abandoned navigation and maintenance.

Such a reckoning coming...

@elizayer @Jargoonco one of the saddest things I've seen is parents steering their kids away from careers in coding because: “Ai will take all those jobs"

@dxzdb @Jargoonco Parent in the 1970s: "No honey, there's no future in finance now that there are computers"?

That is indeed sad.

@elizayer @dxzdb I don’t think AI is taking jobs the way some people expect but my poor nephew graduated UCSC in Computer Science and spent a YEAR searching for a job in tech. So many places just are not hiring juniors, in Eng, Product, or Design, creating a mega talent pipeline problem. Early career is when we learn HOW to think, not just to build and ship shit. Sigh.

@Jargoonco @dxzdb

:-( :-( :-( So sorry for your nephew. That must especially suck after probably being told his whole life what a sure thing a CS degree was.

Somehow it feels like a drawbridge is being pulled up... but maybe having these thinking skills will seem quaint to them in the future. Like COBOL to my generation. 🙃

@elizayer Yeah, it was a tough year for him. He is getting an MSc in Computer Science now, doubling down on it and seeing if he can restart the clock on internships and new grad roles. I really, really hope his new network in the UK can help him more. 2024 in the Bay Area was such a womp womp for these kids who did see it as a sure thing. I got here via liberal arts, so who knows…