Why Most Software Engineers Quit After 30 [video]

3 comments

It's not just *software* engineers --- it's STEM in general. And they don't necessarily "quit" by choice.

In my experience, the half-life of a STEM career is about 10 years --- if you're lucky enough to actually start a STEM career.

The stats I've seen say that less than half of STEM graduates ever obtain a job doing STEM. And it doesn't get better with age.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/06/does-majoring...

Looking for a STEM job once you reach middle age is like a middle aged woman looking for marriage --- it can happen but the odds are definitely not in your favor.

This adverse side of STEM is almost never publicized.

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo206855...

Where do they go? What do the skills translate to?

Engineering management. Project management. UI design. Database management.

Or something completely different: Cattle rancher. Standup comedian. Academic.

tl;dr A greasy sales pitch with flashy graphics about how software engineers should become entrepreneurs (with his paid consulting assistance undoubtedly) and work to enrich themselves instead of an employer. That's fine as far as it goes but there are no details and nothing, naturally, is said about how perilous and stressful a path that can be. Looking at their past videos on their channel and their clickbaity titles does nothing to change the negative impression; nobody honest publishes multiple videos with a thumbnail saying "STOP CODING IF YOU WANT TO BE RICH"(sic).

One of the first steps to knowing whether or not you're ready to become an entrepreneur is whether you're experienced enough not to fall for sales patter like this.