[leros]

I think there is an additional layer of complexity in understanding this topic because the scale of software at large companies breaks our concept of impact.

You might feel like you're really impacting the world if you directly helped 25 members of your local community. Your job improving reports in some division your company could be just as impactful, if not more, but you're so many layers separated from the impact of your work that you don't feel it or maybe even understand it at all.

I feel like we end up in a position as software developers where we don't feel impact unless we're having some part in massive global change impacting millions of people or advancing the technology frontier, but that's just not realistic for everyone to do.

I don't have an answer, but I do think about how your organization might be impacting lots of people's lives, so your seemingly small contribution might actually be significant.

[bloppe]

This somewhat evokes I, Pencil [1]. Seemingly unimpactful jobs make up some of the "innumerable antecedents" of virtually all other jobs, including the seemingly impactful ones. Clearly, by virtue of the fact that you're being paid, you're doing something that some person wants you to do. In a functional capitalist society, that person or people are also doing things that others want them to do. Whether we live in a functional capitalist society is open for debate, but assuming we do, that transitive relationship extends to satisfying the desires of the entire world. I realize this is not satisfying, but satisfaction is often irrational.

[1]: https://fee.org/resources/i-pencil/