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In the context of automation, this recession is stressing me out

3 points by macawfish ↗ HN
Automation of a lot of programming work seems inevitable over the next 5-10 years. The way these companies are reacting to the tightening money supply seems like a prelude to what's coming. The writing's on the wall and I'm seriously starting to wonder what's next.

Anyone else feeling or thinking about this? What are you doing to stay focused, open and grounded in light of the pending shifts?

7 comments

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jstx1
It makes sense for the market downturn to stress you out, I don’t get the automation angle though, that seems like a separate issue.
macawfish
In my mind the connection is that both are fundamentally reducing demand for programmers. Automation could make programming as we know it obsolete, replacing it with something involving an entirely different skill set.
jstx1
Sure but the feasibility of a job being automated away doesn’t change based on the state of the job market.
macawfish
My point is: automation of programming work will be reflected in the state of the job market in terms of less demand for programmers. The current market downturn is giving a glimpse of what that could look and feel like if the net result of automation is fewer jobs all around.

If sophisticated, capable automation of programming comes along during a major downturn it could amplify those effects even more with teams discovering by necessity that new tools mean they just don't need as many people as they used to.

There's no guarantee that something else will come along to replace all the jobs that disappear, at least not immediately. This has happened before and it'll happen again. Look at the rust belt.

Personally I'm hoping to adjust sooner than later, but also feel nervous about the shift.

sacrosanct
> I don’t get the automation angle though

https://github.com/features/copilot

jstx1
If copilot is good, it will be good regardless of any financial market cycles. I'm not saying that automation can't happen, I'm saying that it's a separate problem.
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