There’s a lot of misinformation about the supposed effect of AI on the software industry. This post claims software developer jobs are down 70% from peak, but that’s not correct.
The chart posted (2nd image) doesn’t show the number of software developer jobs. It shows the number of software developer job postings on Indeed. This doesn’t tell us anything about how many software engineering jobs there are, only the rate at which companies are hiring new developers.
The 3rd image is the same graph, but I’ve overlaid it with the federal fund rate. As you can see, almost immediately after interest rates hit zero, job postings start skyrocketing. Low borrowing costs means companies have a lot more money and can grow a lot faster, so hiring explodes.
Then the second interest rates start to go up, new job postings start to decline. Companies used the low interest rates to hire lots of new developers, but now that interest rates are high, those developers become much more expensive to keep. So most companies don’t want more developers, in fact they want a lot less, hence all the layoffs.
All this graph shows is that job growth exploded massively during the pandemic, due to low interest rates, and then slowed down. This has nothing to do with AI replacing programmer. Companies hired too many employees, and now they don’t need more.
All the stuff about AI is complete nonsense. Nobody is shipping entire products in days with AI. OpenAI doesn’t have “AGI”, and AI is certainly not “designing rockets”. In fact, current generation LLMs perform very poorly at even entry-level software engineering tasks.
The tech industry went through a massive explosion in hiring and now the market is correcting. It’s as simple as that. Purely economics, zero AI.
Practice Verified Codes and Commands:
1. Check System Information (Linux):
uname -a
2. Monitor Network Traffic (Linux):
sudo tcpdump -i eth0
3. List Running Processes (Windows):
Get-Process
4. Check Disk Usage (Linux):
df -h
5. Scan for Open Ports (Linux):
nmap -sT 192.168.1.1
6. Check System Uptime (Linux):
uptime
7. List Directory Contents (Linux):
ls -la
8. Check IP Configuration (Windows):
ipconfig
9. Monitor CPU Usage (Linux):
top
10. Check Memory Usage (Linux):
free -m
What Undercode Say:
The discussion around AI’s impact on software development jobs is often clouded by misinformation and sensationalism. The reality is that economic factors, such as interest rates, play a significant role in hiring trends. The tech industry experienced a hiring boom during the pandemic due to low borrowing costs, but as interest rates rose, companies began to cut back on hiring. This correction is a natural economic response and not a result of AI replacing human developers.
AI, particularly current-generation LLMs, is not yet capable of replacing human developers. While AI can assist in prototyping and generating code snippets, it struggles with complex tasks and lacks the ability to understand context deeply. The future of software development will likely involve a collaboration between human developers and AI tools, rather than a replacement of one by the other.
For those in the cybersecurity and IT fields, it’s crucial to stay updated with the latest tools and commands. Regularly monitoring system performance, network traffic, and security vulnerabilities is essential. Commands like tcpdump, nmap, and `top` are invaluable for maintaining system integrity and performance.
In conclusion, while AI continues to evolve, its impact on the job market is often overstated. Economic factors remain the primary drivers of hiring trends, and the need for skilled human developers is unlikely to diminish anytime soon. Staying informed and adaptable is key to navigating the ever-changing landscape of the tech industry.
Additional Resources:
- Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)
- Linux Command Line Basics
- Windows PowerShell Documentation
- Nmap Network Scanning
References:
Hackers Feeds, Undercode AI
