[softwaredoug]

I do a lot of coffee chats with new grads, recruiters, job seekers

What I find is that general development is seen as less desirable compared to the boom of 2021. Due to AI, lots of supply on the market, outsourcing, etc. It's just seen as a commodity.

People recognize they want to specialize into more technical areas. Of course there's AI/ML. But I also see this in high-performance ops, native programming (ie Rust, etc), search/recommendations/RAG, and the like.

So like past recessions, the old jobs don't entirely "come back". But rather a set of jobs stays commodotized, while new areas of the economy are forged/specialized.

Another pattern is hiring only senior+ to focus more on quick wins rather than building out a team for long-term success. It's really hard to be a junior right now. I hope that changes as teams recognize they need to focus not on near-term gains, but building sustainable teams into the future.

[giantg2]

Short-term focus with senior+ devs has been around for over a decade. Most places do an abysmal job of actually developing people. They just let people get some exposure with little guidance. Then 2-3 years later they're applying to seniorjobs at a different Corp. Nothing is longterm anymore.

[CM30]

This definitely seems to correlate with what I've seen too. General web development expertise has far less demand now than it did before, while specialist expertise in particular niche subject areas and combinations of frameworks/languages seems to be doing okay (or at least seeing more job openings again).

So if you've been a company that hasn't been particularly up to date with the goings on in the industry, worked as a typical agency/midsize company Jack of all Trades dev, or you're a bootcamp graduate that learnt React or Angular or whatever in a six week course, it's going to be miserable finding a job in this climate. If you've got specialist experience, things should at least be better now than they were last year.

[dakiol]

> Another pattern is hiring only senior+ to focus more on quick wins rather than building out a team for long-term success

As a senior+ myself, I hate this kind of approach. Companies spending millions in senior+ engineers… and making zero profit.