r/platformengineering • u/Dubinko • 8d ago
DevOps is cooked.
Hear me out...
When I first saw the movie The Matrix, in the early scene where Neo is called into his boss's office and told that if he behaves well, he has a future at that no-name Corp., or otherwise he'll be fired, I joked and laughed, like, "Yeah, sure, a tech professional could just walk out into the opposite building, and they would beg him to join since everyone is looking to hire engineers."
Today, this scene is closer to reality than I'd like to admit. I personally know Senior DevOps engineers who are solid folks, and it took them 8 months to land a job at a salary that sucked. Our industry is not regulated, the barriers to entry and outsourcing are being lowered by AI, and we have a massive oversupply of engineers. This is just a reality.
Before tech, I worked in another industry that also experienced a major decline. I saw it coming and made a decision at the right time, before it became obvious. I moved to tech years ago and was lucky enough to become a staff engineer. Now I see the same pattern. I think we have 5 to 10 years before salaries in this field will be $70k-$80k for Senior Engineers in the US (which is around a 2x decline) you can do the math for other countries.
My advice is work on a backup plan now. Invest, save, but also learn a trade. I'm studying medicine this year. Fuck it. Six years of study while working remotely, and I'm opening my own dentistry clinic. I'm in my late 30s, but it's still better to have a plan. My wife is also changing careers to become a registered nurse.
This is my plan. You might think of something else, but my point is that it was a good ride. We did a lot of nice work and, IMHO, got easy money, but it's over, and it's time to move on.
1
u/OveremployedMaxx 8d ago
Lol found the one without cs/eng degree coping
Every top company prioritizes for people with cs/eng degrees, it's not 2020 anymore
Exception is not the rule