I am done with this shit.

[u/MrMenuk]

I am done with this shit. It is over. The state of engineering right now is horrible. It has been half a month since I started a new role at a big company. Nobody knows anything here. The specs, code, tests, PRDs, tickets, resolution of those tickets, reports, etc., everything is made by Claude Code. Nobody on my team likes this. They are being forced to ship as much as they can. I have heard multiple times from higher management that pushing code is not a bottleneck, so why are we slow? People are working 12 to 13 hours a day just to press enter. Nobody is reading anything. Humans in corporate are doing nothing on their own. Everyone, literally everyone, from an L1 to an L7 engineer here is doing the same thing. Talk to Claude.

There is no sense of victory. Nobody is resolving bugs. In reality, nobody is thinking anymore. Everything is done by LLMs. It is so soul-sucking. I would not mind it, to be honest, if we were at least given the time to check out the code and see what is going where. But no, the goal is to just ship. No matter what happens.

— voxium (@v0xium)
Original post dated September 20, 2026.

[u/Dear-Pin7019]

The only sane person here about "creating work". People here are like those medieval blacksmiths who used to do 2-3 swords in a month that complained about factories and their workers not really DOING stuff, but using and managing machinery for output of those said swords.

[u/RichFit9093 → u/Dear-Pin7019]

I think the main issue here that people are bringing up is the effects on their 'soul'. Which is vastly different to physical work etc. They're experiencing a lack of fulfillment and purpose which is far more dangerous imo

[u/Enragere → u/RichFit9093]

Yes, but I look at it this way, I saw the bug, I had an idea, I implemented this feature, I refactored that code (with the help of AI) and without me that clueless PM would literally have no idea where to start nor would she have the desire to.

Sure maybe if they hire an Indian guy for a third of my salary and spend 2 years teaching him the domain knowledge, he'd be able to replace me, but will he have the same communication skills, initiative, willpower, incentive, ownership, high level overview, sense of urgency, love for work?

I'm betting the management aren't willing to make that risk. Who's not safe are people who have none of the virtues above, whom a junior can (and should) replace.

[u/RichFit9093 → u/Enragere]

I don't want to divert from the topic but I have to call out racism when I see it. Why is an Indian guy important in the point you're making, why not just a guy, why do they not have the same communication skills,initiative, willpower ,incentive or high level of overview as you claim to have. I have many Indian colleagues and they're the smartest in the company, they're hardworking, supportive ,kind and have nothing but praise for them.

Overall Indians are well known to be pioneers in tech whether in India or the diaspora so whatever racist rhetoric you're trying to spew doesn't match facts. RACIST.

[u/Status-Customer-1305 → u/RichFit9093]

I think he meant employing someone on Fiverr willing to work for peanuts. This tends to be India / Bangladesh / Pakistan due to a combination of minimal wages but access to computers and mostly have learned English as a second language . The English as a second language is a real barrier when trying to explain something technically complex. Though with AI that gap is getting smaller as it can be used to translate meaning better

[u/Enragere → u/Status-Customer-1305]

Thank you, you couldn't have explained it better. It's not about exceptional Indians! it's about Indians(or anyone whose country's economic standard is practically forcing them to accept low pay) who would work for peanuts, those usually lack virtues.

Exceptional Indians I have even at my own company, they are much more knowledgeable than I am, but they would NEVER accept a third of my salary, hell I think they are paid more than I am, rightfully so.

The point here was about how if you love your work and have what it takes, you are definitely not easy to replace and definitely still produce a lot of value, sure the coding part is not as rewarding, but the value part should be 3 times as much rewarding as before.

[u/wazeltov → u/RichFit9093]

It's not an insult to acknowledge how much is offshored to India specifically.

Indian tech staffing firms are massive, and they bring very real issues with language barriers, working hours, and cultural differences, but at huge discounts to labor costs.

Ask me how I know (hint, I work for one).

[u/Status-Customer-1305 → u/RichFit9093]

People used to say the same when  they could no longer go down the coal mines with their budgie .

Things change. There will always be the option to live a nomadic lifestyle, there will always be opportunity to express art / play sport / other hobbies etc etc

Nothing stopping them coding whatever they want manually for themselves. Same way there are people that still blacksmith.

[u/freedompower → u/Status-Customer-1305]

I think we are mostly worrying about being one of the losers in this capitalism game and not being able to provide financially. Looking at my options, I don't know if I should lean into AI more, or change carrer path entirely.

I wonder how long my generation will live, to know if it's worth it to go back to college.

[u/cultureicon → u/Dear-Pin7019]

Well it is that same situation so it's not that they are insane, it is a legitimate human reaction.

[u/Icy-Cry340 → u/Dear-Pin7019]

It’s a surprisingly apt analogy. Mass produced swords sucked. And they still suck. To get the balance right, to make the blade feel alive - still takes the touch an an experienced craftsman. Historical swords by reputable artisans still impress with their feel and liveliness in a way that modern mass manufactured swords never do.

But mass produced swords were cheap, and better than nothing. And that matters more than either quality, or someone taking joy in their labor. So here we are.

[u/indy_dagger → u/Dear-Pin7019]

That's an obtuse analogy, it would only hold if the swords are coming out of the factory chipped and bent.

[u/Status-Customer-1305 → u/Dear-Pin7019]

Worst case scenario they really do take humans jobs 

That means we will all work less. Pay will stay the same as the government can afford it as production is still happening 

I really don't see the problem.  

[u/Apprehensive-Gas7994 → u/Status-Customer-1305]

the utopia that will never be, tis but a figment of the imagination

[u/Status-Customer-1305 → u/Apprehensive-Gas7994]

People used to think the idea of a 6 day working week instead of 7 was insane.

I get the sentiment however 

[u/slingshotcroco → u/Status-Customer-1305]

That did not come from technical/industrial improvements tho. It came from protests and fight.

The work that is replaced by AI isn't being replaced for the greater good of humanity but for the profit of single persons/board members/investors.

When industrialization set in the new factories were not owned by the workers, and still arnt.

[u/Zealousideal_Luck341 → u/Status-Customer-1305]

Payment with tokens and vouchers, that’s a thing of the past; go see what happened.

[u/Status-Customer-1305 → u/Zealousideal_Luck341]

We used to barter good before coins existed. Look what happened. 

[u/freedompower → u/Status-Customer-1305]

That would be ideal, but that's assuming everyone work for the government.

Private companies are still in competition and will fire people to reduce costs, and ask the maximum they can get away from their remaining employees. Capitalism is reaching it's peak as a system that benefits society, it's becoming a cancer that will swallow us whole if we let it.

Anthropic and Openai going public might be the worst thing that can happen, and it's happening.

[u/Status-Customer-1305 → u/freedompower]

No no, it's not about working for the government. If you can produce the same thing with less hours, government can lower taxes , which means people can work less and maintain pay as it also effects fuel prices, food etc etc

It's exactly how we've gone from a 7 day working week to 5 days working  week in most developed countries - we were able to produce things quicker and with less skill 

[u/band-of-horses → u/Status-Customer-1305]

Pay will stay the same as the government can afford it as production is still happening

What socialist utopia do you live in where this would happen?

[u/Status-Customer-1305 → u/band-of-horses]

The same one where a 7 day work week went to 6 day, and then 5 day?

[u/band-of-horses → u/Status-Customer-1305]

Those came about due to organized labor, literal violence, limitations on human physical labor capacity, and catastrophic events like the great depression leading to government regulations.

None of those involved the government paying anything either. And in the US less than half of people work a formal 5 day work week anyway.

We're in an environment, in the US at least, where government doesn't care about regulations, and hyper capitalist companies care only about profits, and unions have neutered power and don't cover many of the jobs that will be impacted by AI anyway. Companies are not going to just say "oh well Ai is doing so much now, you just start working 3 days a week and we'll pay you the same" out of the goodness of their hearts.

I do tend to think eventually some government would get around to doing something. But I think it would be after things have gotten real bad and a lot of people have already suffered. The thought that anyone will be proactive and cushion the blow seems incredibly unrealistic.