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by chaps3 hours ago |
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upvoteby mattkrause3 hours ago|
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I'd also throw in hiring practice. Whatever we're doing (across the board) to find candidates seems....less ideal.
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upvoteby davidw2 hours ago|
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> outsourcing, an over-reliance on degrees, LLMs, a lack of "apprenticeship" mentoring,

Which of those things changed (along with higher interest rates) in the past few years though? All the other variables did not change. They were present 5 years ago and present 10 years ago too. To me that's indicative that those factors are not the cause of a soft market for software engineers in 2026.

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upvoteby chaps1 hours ago|
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Are you seriously suggesting that ten years of a systemic failure to mentor the new generation hasn't had an impact on the culture of mentorship?
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upvoteby davidw1 hours ago|
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Are you saying that precise thing changed 10 years ago and hasn't always kind of been with us?

I am talking about the weak market for software engineers right now and what caused it.

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upvoteby chaps1 hours ago|
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Erm, no. I'm saying that the entire industry failure to cultivate a wide spirit of mentorship is biting everyone's ass.
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upvoteby davidw35 minutes ago|
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I mean that could also be true, but it is not - IMO - the cause of the fairly sudden weak market for software engineers.
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upvoteby chaps23 minutes ago|
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IMO it is and I've been saying it for more than ten years that it would catch up with the industry. And it is now. The LLM shit is just a mask over the larger problem.

The front fell off because the base was never built to support a shakeup of the industry. There's so little support, now and for as long as I can remember, for people to fail gracefully in the field. It's just up up up. And now that programmers are finding their jobs to be a little more precarious, maybe folk will start supporting mentorship as a practice.

This isn't just a "market" problem. It's a problem of people not teaching others skills that help them thrive inside AND outside of work.

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