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Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

improvingsoftware.com

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Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#21

Post by ergothus »

This is definitely a problem, particularly for those that aren't in tech cities with endless jobs, but the alternatives discussed in this article are all....not great.

* Work as a consultant - I'm biased here from my own bad experiences, but consultants are often treated as a source of future problems, not solutions. (largely because of communication and incentives, not because of programming skill)

* Work in management - which the author admits is not because it is a good match in anyone's mind but the employer

* The third option is not easy to solidify, but it basically sounds like becoming a solo contract coder in your area of expertise

I suppose any better answer involves a change in the industry that is beyond one person's ability to control, but I was hoping for...I dunno, maybe advice on how to plot your savings to manage lower income in your later years?

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#22

Post by ianai »

Probably, system administration or the rest of IT is the closest to a natural fit for a programmer going into other things. For people with the MS programming certifications this may be a pretty clear path and aided by their programming skills.

I’ve got family who seemingly bucked this problem, though. He has maybe going on 40 years of C experience, now. I think he’s said it’s become harder to find work that really needs his skillset, but he’s been doing the contractor thing for much of that time and always kept employed.

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#23

Post by weliketocode »

This is a scare-tactic article from 10 years ago quoting ANOTHER scare-tactic article from 10 years prior.

The truth: The number of programmers has doubled every two years since the 70s. The demand for programmers is today exceeding the supply.

Until the supply/demand forces change, these headlines will continue to be nothing but fake news.

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#24

Post by inetknght »

Lendal wrote: post #14

I'm 50 and still programming. Programming is all I know how to do. If that was taken away from me, I would just rot to death. I don't want to be anything else, and I refuse to be forced to do something I don't want to do. I'll learn to farm and support myself that way. So, is it still preferable for the manager to not hire anyone and let the work sit undone rather than to be forced to work with a detestable "older" w…

> I'll learn to farm and support myself that way.

With the climate apocalypse, that's becoming less and less likely.

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#25

Post by axaxs »

PedroBatista wrote: post #9

This is generally true. It's a combination of many things, from brain "degradation", ageism, simple economic math ( fresh meat is cheaper and more malleable ), other more important interests like having a real life and when you really mute all the marketing BS, your delusions and wishful thinking, the actual work of being a developer/programmer in a professional setting is a really shitty job and sad life for the maj…

I've been the opposite - preferring to work at big, rather boring places. The work itself is not as exciting or fast paced, but things are stable. And I've not seen any signs of age-ism. The two guys on my team pumping out the most code are both 40+, I think 50+ actually. Sharp as tacks. And it doesn't have to be old tech. We're using a lot of Go and React now, for example.

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#26

Post by k__ »

yasp wrote: post #11

What are some common Plan Bs?

Farming ;)

Joke aside, I don't know how much of this problem is more related to older devs insisting to have the same dev employment they always had than acutally being old.

Go into management.

Become self-employed.

Start your own shop, service or product based.

Teach younger people what you know for money.

There are many jobs besides just being a "senior developer".

I've also seen many non-tech occupations becoming more technical.

Learn something unrelated on the side and try to apply your dev skills to it.

Being a dev is cool, but being a dev-lawyer, dev-md, dev-techer etc. Is probably gonna let you have a good job later.

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#27

Post by randrews »

commandlinefan wrote: post #17
PedroBatista wrote: post #9

This is generally true. It's a combination of many things, from brain "degradation", ageism, simple economic math ( fresh meat is cheaper and more malleable ), other more important interests like having a real life and when you really mute all the marketing BS, your delusions and wishful thinking, the actual work of being a developer/programmer in a professional setting is a really shitty job and sad life for the maj…

> the actual work of being a developer/programmer in a professional setting is a really shitty job and sad life The thing is, it doesn't have to be and, until relatively recently, honestly wasn't. It's a shitty job and a sad life because we have open offices, ticket-tracking systems and daily standups. There was a time when programming was exciting and rewarding.

I would add code reviews to that. The advent of those was when it really stopped being fun for me, because it's really hard to keep that from turning into "your boss nitpicking every line you write."

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#28

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

devoply wrote: post #2

Anyone have more data on this? What happens to programmers as they age, are they in fact unemployable?

The $64,000 question is "Does the experience and skills that you have as a 40+ year old make you worth hiring versus a junior developer or fresh graduate?" Unhappily for a number of people, the answer is "not really".

This is not a profession in which one can coast. Every year in which you're not learning something that makes you a better and more capable professional, whether at your job or on your own time, is one year in which you're falling behind the rest of the pack.

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#29

Post by hellisothers »

PedroBatista wrote: post #9

This is generally true. It's a combination of many things, from brain "degradation", ageism, simple economic math ( fresh meat is cheaper and more malleable ), other more important interests like having a real life and when you really mute all the marketing BS, your delusions and wishful thinking, the actual work of being a developer/programmer in a professional setting is a really shitty job and sad life for the maj…

I’ve admittedly only had 4 jobs in 20 years but I wouldn’t describe any of them like this. Maybe this happens more at scrappy startups and I’ve worked at more established companies?

Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)

#30

Post by JoshTko »

dcolkitt wrote: post #18
Reason077 wrote: post #8

While I’ve no doubt that age discrimination does exist, when you see people who are former programmers at 40 (or 30 for that matter) it’s often just that they started out in programming but got bored of it and moved on to other careers. Or gradually became managers rather than programmers. Statistics may certainly show that programmers skew young, but its not always due to being forced out, or denied opportunities, b…

I'll second that. I'd also add that most programmers have high fluid intelligence. This makes it rather easy for them to retool into another field and end up being talented at it. Industrial psychology has very consistently found that fluid intelligence is a stronger predictor of job performance than even experience. It's often the case that the software engineer who becomes a manager at 45, ends up being better at i…

Any source for your last statement?
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