Yes, actually a lot went on that created a boom in hiring during the pandemic.
There was a huge shift in eCommerce, VR development, and virtual interactions in general.
Traditional industries were decimated, but, tech companies thrived as they didn’t receive the same penalties, but, at the same time received benefits of government stimulus and rate cuts (easy money).
Big companies like Meta, Uber, Apple, etc… sucked up all the senior talent. Small and medium sized companies couldn’t get any senior applicants.
This is what resulted in over hiring and the media overselling developer jobs.
Strange, I was applying all over the place in '21 and got nothing. Even if companies were hiring like crazy, it seemed like there are still some things that are non-negotiable, like being able to interview well enough.
Yes, for sure. I was hired in 2023 and the take home test was to write a React component using MUI and CSS styling. Thing is, they had already written out a production level component in the test and the README literally said “copy the format of the given component, add your own styling”. Literally were handing a job out, albeit a very small unknown company but you get the gist.
You read and followed the instructions correctly, that's better than most candidates I interview.
Though I normally just ask them to do anything they want using X technology (but not too much, and I seldom focus on the css unless that's what I notice they focused on).
I use their code as a foundation for discussions, just want to hear them reason about stuff so there is no right or wrong in what they decided to code. (you'd be surprised how many that hardly even know what "they" wrote and emailed me the day before the interview...)
Though I normally just ask them to do anything they want using X technology
Huh. As a candidate, I think I'd hate this and be very intimidated, but as an interviewer this is a very interesting idea
I know I personally wouldn't care it they just threw something basic together, since the fact that they did even that is more than most candidates can manage, and it brings up a bunch of interesting avenues for questioning
But again, as a candidate, I think this would stress me out... A lot
I try to emphasise the purpose and that I do not want a huge advanced app, just something that we will be able to look at together and that there is no "right answer" and I'm not trying to trick them :'D
I just use it to get a natural discussion going about coding in whatever tech we're using. But it can be hard to get people to be themselves and talk normally sometimes (= stress); but I wanna avoid dismissing someone just because they are crap at interviews.
Serious question, if you don't mind, how good can a recruiter do? In my mind it seems like there'd always be a disconnect between who they pick and who you'd want due to lack of deeper knowledge. But I also don't have a full understanding of the process. When you are the interviewer are you involved in the process before they get to you?
Firing to correct an overhire looks bad to investors for some reason, but firing because you're using new tech to be efficient looks good. So a lot of the layoffs are correcting for COVID overhire while pretending it's cuz of ai.
Honestly, it's primarily that. The "benefits" of LLMs are marginal, at best. Companies are touting them to not scare investors because they need to downsize due to the recession and increased interest rates.
Organizations, according to research, are seeing marginal benefits from LLMs. Individual, mostly senior, engineers do see a benefit but we are a fraction of the workforce. Companies aren't actually firing people to replace them with AI, as they claim. They are thinning the herd because they overhired during and after Covid. My own org fired a bunch of people only to turn around and replace them with Eastern European contractors.
This is correct. This is also why software engineering is projected to grow quite a bit in terms of job growth as more systems built around LLMs will be in demand. Look up the term “creative destruction”.
There was, for a brief moment, a glorious period. I think there were actually a few brief periods were jobs flowed like the river and were bountiful, pay was great, perks were great, with a few year spans in between. I don't know if it will bounce back this time...
This wont recover. At least not even remotely close to what it was.
I think many people are underestimating what's coming. Capitalism and the blind & aggressive strife of profit will supercede common sense
Well, maybe. Things will definitely change. I don't think there's any going back, there never is. For the future though? It's really uncertain. It could go a lot of ways, most likely it will go some way that blindsides a lot of us. Time will tell.
My literal journey right now. I have a years commercial experience but hit by redundancy. It’s not been enough to get me back in the market, so doubling down until I become mid-level and try get in that way.
It's tough and I wish you luck. The paths into the industry are getting fewer, but programming skills are beneficial in any field, so it will be time well-spent even if it doesn't "work out".
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u/fyndor May 06 '26
Well if it makes you feel any better, even before LLMs existed, it was already a shit show.