[tuna74]

"Even if you do manage to make it as an IC all the way into your forties, you're going to run into the pervasive age discrimination, which is only getting worse."

Is this really the case? With the demographics of today, where can employers find all these young SWEs to replace the older SWEs?

[antonyt]

I don’t think general population trends are mirrored in the distribution of potential software engineers.

More of those attending university are pursuing SWE-related degrees than ever.

[trashface]

IMO they don't replace them 1 to 1. They will eliminate jobs over time, or, hold employment steady as population increases, therefore its a shrinking industry. Anyway I understand we are still producing 100K CS grads a year in the US alone, so they aren't going to going to run out of young people any time soon.