My mother is currently like, AI will eliminate all junior jobs and everyone will be on the managerial position. It’s honestly exhausting. Damn, when will the hype end???
My mother is currently like, AI will eliminate all junior jobs
There’s a little truth to it.
The junior jobs did dry up, due to speculation by ignorant leaders, about three years ago.
But now everyone who didn’t hire then has progressed through awkwardness then worry toward outright panic, as AI can’t deliver everything they were promised. AI still might deliver what they need someday, but it now even the CEO can see that it clearly won’t be in time to save the CEO’s next bonus.
In my past experience, three years is about as long as most companies can get away with not hiring developer talent - before unfixed problems turn into crisis.
Sure enough, we’re starting to see the leading edge of the panic hiring, now.
Things could still calm back down - due to more speculation, or another coordinated effort by CEOs to suppress developer salaries. I’m not a time traveler.
But the junior jobs will come roaring back with a vengeance one way or another.
My money is on this year.
That’s actually literal, in my case.
I successfully made a case to spent some extra on developer bonuses this year to hopefully proactively avoid having to do any backfills during 2025 - when I, personally, expect developer hires to be particularly expensive (relative to inflation).
I’ve also spent the last three years building up some internal non-developer staff toward readiness to be an emergency backfill, in case I need a developer backfill in 2025, and cannot afford any at prevailing market rates.
Of course, I’ve lived through enough “developers are ludicrously expensive” years, that I just always prepare for them. If it’s not 2025, it’ll be 2026 or whenever, and my team will survive because I kept our options open. Probably will help that I also didn’t piss off the talent by trying to replace them with bad automation, lol.
