[throwaway21311]

Wow, I feel exactly the same. Except that I have been a software engineer for 20 years. I lasted so long changing jobs every 4-5 years. Usually, every time I started feeling exhausted at a job, I started looking and changing before it was too late.

In my current job, we have a globally distributed application that can handle 1000 times more load than expected. We have a sufficiently complex CI / CD process that took almost as long to develop as the application. We have a developer whose job is to fill out TPS reports. The application could have been much simpler, but we had to use certain technologies. Then we have so many ceremonies around it, such as daily surveys, meaningless waterfall style planning and then the use of tools for agile practices for waterfall style releases. It takes at least one hour to create tickets for the approval of the commercial process before each production boost. All the time, they told us that we needed CI / CD so that we can release code more frequently and easily.

Now in my forties, I have a hard time changing and I have probably stayed too long in my current job. It's not that I'm not receiving offers, but I feel that all jobs are the same, at least, for web developers. Basically, create things that help with sales and marketing, either directly or indirectly.

Sometimes I think that my feelings are what some people call midlife crisis and that I should do something typical of people in their 40s, like buying a sports car.

Not sure what the answer is. I felt that I should also share my frustration.

[MS90]

Those last few paragraphs really resonated with me in a funny way. I find lately that the more bored and unfulfilled I become with my job, the harder I start staring at pictures of that new Corvette...