LucienJan 6
Anil Dash
The number one thing I've been hearing from people in tech lately is, basically, "How the hell am I supposed to work in this industry anymore?" Though most folks are kind of afraid to say it out loud. So I wrote about how to think about it: https://www.anildash.com/2026/01/05/a-tech-career-in-2026/
How the hell are you supposed to have a career in tech in 2026?

A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

Anil Dash
Jan 5 at 10:28pmWeb
Show threadRaymond CamdenJan 5

@anildash typo i think (or unparsed Markdown)

Many of the biggest companies have abandoned the basic principle of making technology that actually_ works._

Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@raymondcamden good catch, thanks! will fix.
Show threadEthan MarcotteJan 5

@anildash Anil, I’ve already read this twice; it’s just tremendous. Thank you for writing it.

Appreciate you.

Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@beep very welcome! You're always one of my imaginary audience readers in my head when I'm writing, so thank you for the help before I publish. :)
Show threadLauraJan 5
@beep @anildash Reading just the headline, I thought -Ethan would answer UNIONIZE
Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@laescude @beep well, I mean... the post does explicitly advocate for collective action under the heading of understanding power. Soooo
Show threadsu_liamJan 6
@anildash @laescude @beep I’m gonna actually read this now.
Show threadEthan MarcotteJan 6
@laescude I hope you read the piece! What I loved is that Anil’s talking about the foundational work for any kind of organizing, *including* winning a union.
Show threadLauraJan 6
@beep Oh I totally read it :)
Show threadEthan MarcotteJan 6
@laescude nice! <3
Show threadchristaJan 5
@anildash it's timely. I was just talking about this yesterday at lunch with some old coworkers, all of whom are intending to leave the industry (some faster than others). I'm not sure I'm as optimistic as you are about the possibility of change (focusing mainly on the "this too shall pass"), but I appreciate the acknowledgement of how many are feeling (felt it physically) and some concrete advice about how to move through it
Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@christa I fully agree that the changes will not come soon enough for everyone, and that some places won't change but will instead push out everyone of good conscience. I don't mean to diminish that reality, at all.
Show threadHierarchyJan 7

@christa @anildash into which industries are they considering moving to? Asking out of curiosity and because I have been overwhelmed by the work.

There's strong disparency between management and programmers. Huge amount of AI code has been generated which causes a lot of fixing time and usually goes without proper reviews.

I think Im burnt and just looking for my exit

Show threadchristaJan 7
@Hierarchy @anildash one becoming social worker, one librarian/archivist, one tbd but probably a contractor (construction)
Show threadHierarchyJan 7
@christa @anildash thank u for sharing 
Show threadchristaJan 7
@Hierarchy @anildash good luck on your journey! hope you're able to find something that fulfills you
Show threadNigel Wadsworth 🇦🇺Jan 5
@anildash Thank you.
Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@nygl you're very welcome.
Show threadeswillwalkerJan 5
@anildash I’m still finding this post to be more intelligible and relevant to me, a non-coder who needs to do a bit of coding on occasion. https://www.anildash.com/2025/12/02/vibe-coding-empowering-and-imprisoning/
Vibe Coding: Empowering and Imprisoning

A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

Anil Dash
Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@ELS I'm happy to hear it's been helpful!
Show threadJonJan 5
@anildash Excellent post! There are quite a few people I'll be sending this to
Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@jdp23 I'm glad it's useful.
Show threadJonJan 6
@anildash you're completely right that the first and most important thing for people to know is that it's not just you!
Show threadNicole ParsonsJan 5

@anildash

Pro-democracy advocates can support democracy by collecting evidence for the war crimes trials as insiders.

Make it expensive to be a fascist.
https://sfstandard.com/2025/12/19/facebook-users-deceived-privacy-will-cost-meta-0-03-revenue-settle/

https://www.thetimes.com/business/technology/article/meta-cambridge-analytica-data-mark-zuckerberg-9vrkr9wkx

Make it embarrassing to support a fascist movement.
https://www.newsweek.com/mark-zuckerberg-settles-facebook-privacy-lawsuit-meta-2100325

Discovery is hell to Andreessen, Musk, & Thiel.
https://gizmodo.com/settlement-in-meta-privacy-suit-spares-board-members-zuck-sandberg-and-thiel-from-testifying-2000631038

They can also help by pretending to be stupid, a la The Simple Sabotage Field Manual. Poison an LLM. Break products.
https://www.404media.co/declassified-cia-guide-to-sabotaging-fascism-is-suddenly-viral/

Meta, California agree to settle Facebook privacy case

Third parties harvested personal data even though the company claimed to offer privacy, a lawsuit says.

Show threadOkunaJan 5
@anildash having worked for a big tech American company outside the US, I can confirm everything you have written.
When I started years ago, it was a great work place and I really enjoyed learning something new every day. And then everything changed the last couple of years. People were fired not by their line managers but by senior management driven by AI KPIs.
We even got targets how often and how much we have to use AI every day. and it was tracked.
I'm glad I could leave on my own initiative with a reasonable package.
Show threadMaggie PieJan 5
@anildash same, but Academia.
Show threadTedJan 5

@anildash
> All it takes is remembering that the power in tech truly rests with all the people who actually make things

That power becomes diluted when individual workers are more replaceable. A rough job market enables the current management behavior.

Simply having real innovation isn't enough if the company won't listen to it. And they're happy not to, and then rush to pivot when it's too late.

This reenforces more than ever that we need unions. I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned.

Show threadAnil DashJan 5
@tschundler I explicitly call for people to take collective action in the section on understanding power.
Show threadMarc TriusJan 6
@anildash yeah it can be hard to out loud say the "U" word. Unironically 🙂
@tschundler
Show threadAnil DashJan 6
@alter_kaker @tschundler I think you'll find I have some pretty good credentials when it comes to not being afraid of the word. I'm just also aware that a lot of folks are less comfortable sharing a piece at their workplace if it explicitly advocates for unionization.
Show threadMarc TriusJan 6
@anildash yeah, it makes sense. For myself, generally I find it easier to talk about unions in private settings than in public, under my own name, since I moved to tech from the more unionized industries I worked in before (I was in the sheet metal workers, teamsters, public sector service...). I hope it gets easier, though
@tschundler
Show threadMarc TriusJan 6
@anildash anyway, I really appreciate the article. I'm still thinking about what my takeaway from it is.
@tschundler
Show threadChrisJan 6
@anildash @alter_kaker @tschundler the great thing about forming a worker co-op is that everyone can be in the union too.
Show threadMarc TriusJan 6
@anarchris if one has capital, sure. I don't, I just have debt
@anildash @tschundler
Show threadsu_liamJan 6
@anildash Don’t. Leave it to AI until it crashes and burns, then offer to come in and pick up the pieces. I suspect the AI kingpins will do the same, but you’ve got sincerity on your side, and you didn’t just fuck everything up down and sideways.
Show threadgroff 🇺🇦Jan 6
@su_liam @anildash
I left tech a long time ago. Much happier now.
Show thread✨Soff✨ Mawr Jan 6

@anildash the absolute state of the tech industry in 2026. I've been out of work since April; the options in Seattle especially are incredibly rough. I can't get a callback on anything and I have 20 years of experience.

I'm going to try to get a gig as a bus driver in a few weeks, I'm about out of options 

Show threadJulie SqveakarooJan 6

@mawr @anildash

*Hugs softly*

Show threadHierarchyJan 7
@mawr @anildash sending hugs
Show threadArazilJan 6
@anildash These same themes are also prevalent in public sector (government) organizations. Nobody is safe from the current "morale crisis." 😫
Show threadDarkstarJan 6
@anildash Really helpful article! I'm the target market for this, and I appreciate the thoughts hopefulness.
Show threaddisorderlyfJan 6

@anildash I'm hesitant to speak about this as someone who is relegated to software development, if you can call it that, in their free time because the picosecond I no longer had to worry about inadvertantly killing my partner with COVID if I couldn't land a remote job as my literal first job in tech, the mass layoffs started and I made the mistake of quietly prototyping, fucking it up because I didn't have the time or resources to make it better, and going back to the drawing board while I waited for the layoffs to pause for often enough that I didn't just get immediately hit with hiring freezes and auto-rejections if I applied.

Like, if I thought I had a snowball's chance in hell, I'd even be willing to deal with the crunch. I've worked manual labour for as long as some of the work schedules I've heard in the industry. And yet it sounds like job security is somehow worse than retail right now.

How the hell am I supposed to get into the industry in 2026?

Show threadworld's worst gothJan 6
@anildash as someone who left the profit seeking side of tech a long time ago, it is astounding how much its worst ideas seep into nonprofit and gov tech culture. I appreciate the gentle reminder many of the same strategies for navigating them still apply here.
Show threadThe Orange ThemeJan 6
@anildash Oh, this came at precisely the right time for me. Thank you, I look forward to reading this.
Show threadbJan 6
@anildash I'm a current CS undergrad student and I'm going to be graduating and entering the job market/tech industry in about 6 months. i've been pretty worried about how i'm going to be able to work in this industry given everything going on right now, so it's nice to hear i'm not alone, and especially that people who have worked in tech for far longer than i have share similar feelings
Show threadelleJan 6

@anildash you get so close to the real solution for workers still trapped in corporate hell: join a union.

that is what facilitates collective power in a meaningful way in a corporate environment.

also, get enough money saved up with your newfound comrades, and start a worker collective.

fuck these corporate fascist assholes bent on killing and enslaving the rest of us.

Show threadAntonio PatriarcaJan 6
@anildash Thank you for the great read. I don't think there is much left to save in this industry I once loved. I am probably going to leave it completely this new year.
Show threadSimon FosterJan 6

@anildash

Thanks for giving voice to this. I’ve seen exactly the same thing in the tech industry. Left my job recently for a lot of the reasons you mention in your post.

Show threadStarr HorneJan 6
@anildash thank you this was a really good read. I exited my company a few years ago and have been looking to jump back in soon and it sure isn’t 2013 anymore!
Show threadHierarchyJan 7
@starr @anildash what do u do are u still in the same industry or something else?
Show threadStarr HorneJan 7
@Hierarchy @anildash yep, I’m going back to freelance full stack dev soon. Thinking about focusing on smaller non-tech clients, but still in early stages.
Show threadVeda DalsetteJan 6
@anildash We need plumbers and electricians. Fuck tech.
Show thread刀Jan 6
@anildash can we have a “how the hell am I gonna work on AI in 2026” article too for all the tech employees who are being pointed by a gun to work on something “more AI”  
Show threadGlyphJan 7
@anildash great piece. my first thought was "why didn't he say 'unionize'?" but seeing some of your reasoning in the replies here and thinking about the median target reader, I think you very delicately threaded a needle here.
Show threadAnil DashJan 7
@glyph thanks. Yeah, it was a reasoned choice. I forget that sometimes people don't know the vagaries of navigating having a larger audience, especially one that includes a not-insignificant number of enterprise or big-business readers. I even forget, until people will tell me that the email bounced because I used too many curse words or the like. 🤣
Show threadTalia HussainJan 7
@anildash I was thinking this 15 years ago. Some of us saw this coming.
Show threadKetakaterJan 7
@anildash erm, can you explain to me why Tech industry (and careers therein for that matter) is expected to work differently from Pharma, Defense, Chemicals, financeand all the other ethically troubled industries? What makes it special in your eyes? It never was, so I don't understand the question...
Show threadLars Marowsky-Brée 😷Jan 7

@anildash Some of this is fairly specific to the US, but there's also been a related and broader trend globally.

Do you have a perspective on that as well?