I have 10 years professional experience and have been coding since age 11. Starting on full stack web applications and branching into niche areas like hardware programming and writing build tools.
Looking at the state of AI and the state of the job market - I feel disheartened.
AI coding tools are pretty good (say 10% uplift in productivity in brownfield) and, if AI improvement is exponential, it's not unreasonable to expect it to replace a majority of the problems in a 5 - 10 year window.
I might just be falling for AI marketing hype but, as someone who enjoys the craft for the craft, I feel like the aspects/knowledge of programming that excite me have/will be solved.
It has the same taste as when you start cheating on a video game and it loses its magic.
That combined with the reduction in salary and the increase is stress/demands from employers has me starting to consider going back to university or taking up a trade like welding or apprentice as an electrician.
How do you feel about software engineering as a career?
P.S. I'm Australian so, while well compensated, I never got the insane "retire early" compensation packages you hear about in FANG so I'll need to continue working for the foreseeable future.
If you're tired of working for the kind of idiot that sees "AI will replace everyone in your company for cheap" and starts drooling I don't blame you. I'm pretty sick of the industry too.
But I don't think AI is a good reason to quit.
I think you’re falling for some of the hype. I’m not feeling the magic others often talk about.
Over the decades, I have seen too many friends who have fallen for this story, 'hit their numbers' and loose their minds after 'retiring'. This is because the mind just unravels(unable to find meaning), if it doesn't have daily structure and purpose.
You are ready to retire, not just when you are financially independent but when you have settled into a pattern that is sustainable long term, of daily 'meaning formation'.
AI will create problems too. Anything that grows in complexity also generates more issues. Never less issues. Don't believe the hype. Tune it out. Focus on problems. Not tools.
Another thing I learnt is - Balance the work "has to feel good" story with whatever responsibilities you have or will have in life. So if people depend on you or will depend on you in future, don't make the decision purely on I want work to feel like play. It's easier to keep work and play separate than to try and merge them. Both are required though for 'meaning formation' but balance it out. So look for both in separate areas.
Try looking for work with teams that are multi-disciplinary. If you head back to Uni don't just roam the comp sci dept. Go look depts and ask them if they need you skills. This is where the most "fun" happens imho. But people head where the money is and end up doing a lot more boring stuff. Software is everywhere so you can get involved with whatever you want - chemistry, biology, astrophysics etc etc if you just go look. All the best!
I never enjoyed coding, it was a means to an end -- I was interested in systems administration and learned about infosec along the way, trying to protect my machine in an age when hard drive space was scarce and virtual machines weren't a thing -- you burned a CD and spun up Knoppix if you had decent ram...
Anyways, the things AI are doing is more "software carpentry" than "software engineering".
AI is not finding zero days. AI is not writing tight C to speed up I/O intensive processes.
OTOH, I don't have a career -- I bounced from UX research to policy to pentesting to being a SOC analyst, trying to find just... stability, respect, and a challenging environment.
When you're young it can be tempting to chase the perfect job but if you have one now, I'd try to get into a management position where you have a good work life balance. Find people you can trust to work under you, and treat them well. That isn't always a money thing -- letting them use their PTO, not screaming throwing things or hitting them, not forcing them to conduct every communication over email as if interactions that don't occur in writing are fair game to be manipulative...
Anyways I think the things AI will "solve" are stuff like when you're tweaking some code to parse a CSV or automating the standing up of a wordpress site.
As for trades? My dad was a carpenter. If things aren't being built, there's no work. It can be very boom or bust. Same goes for other trades -- having a salary and an office are big perks that a lot of folks take for granted.
One thing I didn't see mentioned is uni -- especially in AUS where it's lower cost, I'd do that if you have the chance. I struggled in high school, but when I got to pick my major, pick my classes, and be surrounded by others who actually enjoy learning I found I really enjoyed school. You'll get a chance to learn to write well, in a literary way. You can also dive deep on math and coding concepts you might struggle to teach yourself.
Try to find someplace that keeps your brain engaged, has good work life balance, and yes save aggressively... but your brain is still forming. You might not be the same person in ten years, in terms of ideas or tastes -- I used to be an XTREME dew chugging edgelord... now I listen to classical and drink tea.
Anyways, sorry to kind of ramble but it's annoying, seeing young folks like you buy into this AI hype.
It's not going to replace skilled coders, full stop -- and I'd focus on stuff like assembly, C, and other "bare metal" skills if you're truly concerned about that.
No doubt this has drifted out-of-reach for more people across-the-board, but if you are in an area where a decent job alone is not enough and you are actually completely dependent on a decent job market in addition, that may be an unrecognized disadvantage.
Whether you are still young or not, if that's the kind of situation you've been involved in your whole life it may not be easy to realize there are still many other options out there. Not that you withdraw from market dependency completely, but it really can be overbearing if it acts as a dominating force.