On July 14, a PM (product manager) who was fired by Meta posted a text on the Internet, titled "2500 Job apps, 46 interviews, 1 offer". Regarding this matter and the "2023 Chinese Developer Survey Report" released by CSDN and Xiang Shuai's "2023 Annual Speech", let's talk about a few points in the current software industry.
1. Software market at home and abroad
In the past month or so, I have been interviewing for recruitment, and the interview case has also been discussed many times in the previous article. Even if it comes from a big factory, it is normal for the gap period of job hunting to be between March and June. After seeing a PM who was fired by Meta share about job hunting, I realized that this is not only the case in China, but also in foreign countries.
A brief summary of the above content is: a Meta product manager was fired this year (2023). He sent out 2,500 job applications, got only 46 interviews, and finally got an offer. Before this time, his total income was $475,000, and now his total income in the new job is $210,000.
It can be seen that not only is it difficult to find a job, but his income has directly shrunk by half. There are also comments below that the current market is even worse than in 2008 (financial crisis). Although this is just an example, it is also a side reflection of the market.
The PM's body feeling is the same as I felt during the recruitment process. At present, some applicants have begun to accept the reality of salary cuts. At the same time, the survey results in the "2023 China Developer Survey Report" also show that the overall salary of the software industry has declined.
2. Anxiety at the age of 35
According to the report: The number of developers under the age of 30 has been decreasing year by year, and currently accounts for 71% .
Anxiety at the age of 35 is an objective fact. Whether it is me or my friends around me, there is such a sense of anxiety. But at the same time, I also found that a large number of programmers after the age of 35 are still struggling in the workplace, and they are doing well.
Anxiety exists, and some companies have restrictions on age, but the fact is not as serious as the media publicizes. Although it cannot be said that the anxiety of being 35 years old is being broken, the survey data shows that the proportion of developers over 30 years old is increasing year by year. Even practitioners over the age of 40 rose from 3% to 7%.
As a recruiter, there are often two "greedy" needs: first, do not want to spend time training people (especially small and medium-sized enterprises), and want to use ready-made people who can do things; second, want to find a capable person, All-rounder, can carry all things.
This somewhat provides an opportunity for software practitioners over the age of 30. Relatively speaking, practitioners over the age of 30 better match this implicit demand in terms of knowledge and ability. There are still certain advantages in the competition of small and medium-sized enterprises.
At the same time, recruiting supervisors are generally less likely to recruit people older than themselves, because it is difficult to manage. However, as the age of the supervisor itself grows, the age range that can be accommodated is gradually expanding. This provides a certain living space for practitioners over 30 years old.
In short, the market is not optimistic, but not so pessimistic. Anxiety at the age of 35 exists objectively and is gradually easing. Anxiety can also bring some motivation to seek changes early.
3. Changes brought about by AI
According to the report: 26.6% of developers are optimistic about generative AI, 34% of developers have used ChatGPT, and 61% of developers believe that current AI programming cannot replace developers .
Still amazed to see this. I am already a daily user of AI, and the proportion of use in development has completely exceeded that of search engines. The reason is simple. With the help of AI, both development efficiency, learning efficiency, and development quality are doubled.
If you think that AI can replace developers at this time, then you have already surpassed 61% of people; if you are already using AI for development, then it is likely to have exceeded 90% of people, or even more.
As mentioned in the previous article, AI cannot directly replace developers, but developers who can really replace developers are those who know AI . A simple example: Originally, it took three man-days to develop a function, but with the help of AI, developers can complete it in one man-day, and the quality is even better. Time saved is job opportunity lost for others.
In addition: Midjourney is a company with only 11 people. Its products have been in operation for more than a year, with 16 million users worldwide and revenue of more than 100 million US dollars. As much designer time is saved, as many designers are replaced in disguise.
Xiang Shuai also mentioned in his "2023 Annual Speech" that "professionalism is being redefined by AI." Because artificial intelligence can quickly endow humans with many specific "professional abilities." Disenchanting the profession is, in essence, a reflection and evolution of the traditional professional society.
The professional barriers we were once proud of are being stepped down, and more and more (deep-dug) wells are about to go barren. Frankly speaking, the "professional society" we are familiar with will face huge changes.
At this moment, if you are not aware of the subversion and changes of AI to the entire industry, then you really need to seriously think, experience and study it.
Finally, to summarize:
1. Under the current circumstances, it is difficult to find a job. Cherish the current job and choose to change jobs carefully;
2. The salary level of the entire software industry is declining as a whole, so make good psychological expectations;
3. The anxiety at the age of 35 exists, but it is slowly easing. At the same time, I also hope that this anxiety can bring you more changes and breakthroughs;
4. AI will surely subvert the work of most people. It's not AI that's going to compete for your job, it's the people who will use it.