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Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

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Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#1

Post by jackalx »

I'm in my mid 30s and has been working in the software industry for the past 16 years. I'm a Lead Engineer at the moment and I've tried jobs as architects previously and didn't enjoy it. I still love writing code, learning new tech/tooling/stack and doing hands-on technical implementation. However, at some point it seems that everyone at my stage is moving into management or higher level positions doing project management, meetings, architectural discussions (mostly meetings), etc. which I really don't enjoy doing. Has anyone here work as a technical guy until retirement and can share your experience if you have any regrets?

Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#3

Post by verdverm »

My father recently retired after 40 years of staying a tech lead / dev and repeatedly turning down other titles / roles.

Seems possible to me, it's very understandable to not want to climb the corporate ladder, and I'd support any of my devs who feel the same as you.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#4

Post by acomjean »

While at raytheon (my last job where people retired out of), many people stayed coding till retirement. At the university I'm at now, the IT department had many working till retirement.

Raytheon is not 'normal' company. And it gets risky when there are layoffs, but even those I know who got let go during a couple rounds of layoffs were able to find other work. I'd honestly rather code then manage people.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#6

Post by 3jckd »

No, if you work in a software house; or I'd say, you have extremely low chance there and anyone who made it, was an outlier.

Yes, if you work in a company that does some RnD and you have actual domain knowledge and expertise as opposed to being a generic, even if experienced, but nevertheless generic developer. I have many colleagues well into their 50s and some even 60s that work at Intel, NVIDIA, Ericsson etc.. They are not a rare sight over there.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#8

Post by rossdavidh »

I _started_ working as a coder in my 30's, and I'm 52 now. I am still getting inquiries from startups.

One thing that trips up some coders as they get older, is that on some level they expect to be able to stop learning new stuff, and settle into the role of grizzled veteran. While that is true in most fields, in software, it just isn't. If you are retiring in 5 years, you'd better be learning some new stuff now to be relevant/employable 2 years from now.

But, if you're willing to keep learning, then the fact that you have seen a number of tech trends come and go does give you a perspective which is worth something.

Lastly, you will probably make more money if you go into management or etc. But it's not like you have to be homeless if you stay a coder, so for me that's not much of a sacrifice.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#9

Post by formercoder »

Depends on the company and your priorities. Do you want to maximize income? Then make sure you work somewhere where ICs have a lot of advancement potential built into the org. Also don’t think that this track avoids politics, you still need to play the people game.
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