[Cthulhu_]

This is a good point. However, the base is relatively narrow; there are many, many more people working in the popular frameworks and languages like e.g. React or Java or what have you than there are people who work on the fundamentals and have that low level understanding. And I'm afraid people at that level are going to become rare.

It's not hopeless though, it feels like that in the past decade, some of the smartest minds working at the lower levels of abstractions have come up with great new technologies. New programming languages that push the envelope of performance and security while maintaining good developer experience, great advancements in microchip technologies, that kinda thing.

It's important to maintain access to universities and higher education, where people who have the interest and mindset can learn and become part of this base that powers the greater software market.

[oldenlessons]

I don't know. People working in web frameworks might be more visible, and more numerous than people working more low level stuff. But I don't think the latter is rarefied atmosphere at all. There are today several times more people working on those base levels than 10 or 20 years ago and I expect the trend to continue.

Sure, they will enable even more people proportionally to not think about those low level systems. But my argument is that the need for that low level expertise has always expanded and will keep expanding.

Automation entails tonnes of complexity that need to be managed. It doesn't just evaporate. More automatic systems will demand more people and teams to learn low level systems in great detail and at high levels of accuracy.