Dev Jobs are being taken. But not by AI.

Summary

In this video, the speaker discusses the current state of the developer job market, addressing concerns about AI replacing human developers. They argue that the primary reasons for fewer job openings are economic factors like market shrinkage, layoffs, and hiring freezes rather than AI. The speaker highlights a trend towards outsourcing IT projects to ready-made SaaS solutions, which are cost-effective for small businesses. They also note that many small businesses now rely on social media and Google Maps for their online presence, reducing the need for custom websites. The advice for developers is to adapt by learning new skills and considering the specific needs of potential employers, emphasizing that it's market common sense, not AI, reshaping job opportunities.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The video discusses the impact of AI and market changes on the job market for developers.
• 📉 There's a decrease in developer job positions due to economic factors rather than AI.
• 💼 Businesses are opting for cost-cutting measures like hiring freezes and project freezes, affecting developer hiring.
• 🌐 The trend of outsourcing IT projects to ready-made SaaS systems and off-the-shelf solutions is on the rise.
• 🛠️ Developers' roles are shifting towards configuring tools and maintaining systems with minimal customizations.
• 🏢 Small businesses are less likely to need custom websites, favoring social media and Google Maps for their online presence.
• 💡 For developers, there's a need to adapt and learn new skills to stay relevant in the job market.
• 🔍 Job seekers should simulate job searching to understand the skills and projects that are in demand.
• 💼 Senior developers are still in demand, particularly for building infrastructure in large companies like Shopify.
• 🌟 The video encourages developers to continuously improve their skills and consider adding demo projects to their portfolios.
• 🤔 It concludes that it's not AI but market common sense that might be reducing the number of developer jobs available.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The video discusses the state of developer jobs in the current market, focusing on how the economy, not AI, is affecting the demand for developers.

Why does the speaker believe developer jobs are declining?

The speaker attributes the decline to shrinking budgets, economic downturns, hiring freezes, and companies opting for ready-made SaaS solutions instead of custom development.

How does the speaker view the impact of AI on developer jobs?

The speaker views AI as only a small factor in reducing developer jobs. The real reason is the business trend of cost-cutting and relying on SaaS solutions.

What alternative solutions are businesses using instead of hiring developers?

Businesses are increasingly using off-the-shelf SaaS systems like Shopify, WordPress, and Wix, which are more affordable and require less custom development.

What type of companies are still hiring developers, according to the speaker?

Larger companies like Shopify that need to build and maintain infrastructure are still hiring developers, though they tend to hire fewer but more senior-level developers.

What is the speaker's advice for developers facing the challenging job market?

The speaker advises developers to simulate job-search scenarios, assess what skills are needed, and work on improving their skills or creating demo projects to stay competitive.

Why are small businesses less likely to hire developers, according to the speaker?

Small businesses like bakeries or barber shops often don't need a dedicated website and rely on platforms like Google Maps, Facebook, and Instagram for their online presence.

How does the speaker recommend developers prepare for the current job market?

Developers should analyze job postings, simulate working for a company, identify needed skills, and improve their portfolios by creating relevant demo projects.

What role do ready-made solutions play in reducing the demand for developers?

Ready-made solutions like Laravel Spark and Jetstream make it easier and faster for businesses to launch projects, reducing the need for extensive custom development.

What is the speaker's perspective on the future of development jobs?

The speaker believes there will still be opportunities for developers, but competition will be tougher, and they will need to adapt by improving their skills and focusing on how they can add value to businesses.

Outlines

00:00

💼 The Shift in Developer Job Market Dynamics

The video discusses the current state of the developer job market, addressing concerns about AI potentially replacing human developers. The speaker clarifies that while AI is a factor, the primary reasons for fewer job openings are economic challenges such as market shrinkage, cost-cutting measures, layoffs, and hiring freezes. Businesses are increasingly opting for off-the-shelf SaaS solutions and pre-configured tools, which are faster and more cost-effective than hiring developers for custom solutions. Examples like Shopify, WordPress, and Wix are mentioned, highlighting how small businesses can manage without a dedicated development team. The speaker also notes a trend where local businesses in Lithuania prioritize social media presence over websites, further reducing the need for developers. The video suggests that the job market is demanding more senior developers with specialized skills, and advises developers to stay adaptable, improve their skills, and consider how they can add value to potential employers.

05:00

🗣️ Engaging the Audience for Further Discussion

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker invites viewers to share their thoughts and engage in a discussion about the points raised in the video. This call to action encourages interaction and dialogue, aiming to foster a community of individuals who are interested in the evolving landscape of the developer job market. The speaker expresses a desire to continue the conversation in the comments section below the video, indicating an openness to feedback and the exchange of ideas.

Keywords

💡AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the video, the speaker discusses the common misconception that AI will take over jobs, particularly in the field of development. The speaker clarifies that while AI is a factor, it is not the primary reason for the reduction in developer job positions.

💡Developer

A developer, in the context of the video, refers to a professional who creates, designs, and maintains software, applications, or systems. The video addresses the concerns of developers regarding job security in a changing market, where factors like AI and economic conditions are believed to impact job availability.

💡Economy

The economy is the economic system of a country or region, which includes production, consumption, and trade. The video script mentions that the economy shrinking, costs, layoffs, and hiring freezes are major factors contributing to the reduction in developer job positions, rather than AI.

💡Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the practice of hiring an outside company or individual to perform tasks that were traditionally performed in-house. In the video, the speaker notes that businesses are increasingly outsourcing IT projects to ready-made SaaS systems and other off-the-shelf solutions, which reduces the need for in-house developers.

💡SaaS

SaaS stands for Software as a Service, a software licensing and delivery model in which software is accessed over the internet rather than installed locally. The video discusses how the adoption of SaaS solutions like Shopify and WordPress is contributing to the shift away from hiring developers for custom development.

💡Market Trends

Market trends refer to the prevailing direction or tendencies in a particular market, which can be influenced by various factors such as technology, consumer behavior, and economic conditions. The video highlights the current market trend of businesses opting for cost-saving measures like SaaS solutions over hiring developers.

💡Customization

Customization is the process of modifying or adapting a product or service to meet specific requirements. In the context of the video, the speaker mentions that developers' roles often involve customizing ready-made tools and platforms to fit the unique needs of a business, rather than building solutions from scratch.

💡Job Security

Job security refers to the stability and continuity of employment. The video addresses the concern of job security for developers in a market where traditional development roles are being replaced by more cost-effective solutions like SaaS and outsourcing.

💡Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of an individual's work that showcases their skills and experience. The video suggests that developers should consider enhancing their portfolios with demo projects that demonstrate their ability to work with current tools and technologies, which can be beneficial when seeking employment.

💡Skillset

A skillset refers to the set of skills and abilities that an individual possesses. The video emphasizes the importance of developers continually evaluating and updating their skillsets to remain relevant and competitive in the job market, especially as the demand for certain types of development work changes.

💡Senior Developers

Senior developers are experienced professionals with advanced knowledge and skills in software development. The video notes that while the demand for general developers may be decreasing, there is still a need for senior developers, particularly in companies that provide infrastructure for platforms like Shopify.

Highlights

Dev job positions are decreasing, but not because of AI.

Economy shrinking, costs, layoffs, and hiring freezes are major reasons for fewer job openings.

Businesses are rethinking strategies, leading to outsourcing IT projects to readymade SaaS systems.

SaaS solutions like Shopify and WordPress are becoming more popular for cost-saving.

Developers' roles are shifting towards configuring tools and launching with minimal customizations.

Small businesses are opting for Google Maps and social media presence over websites.

Companies like Shopify require senior developers to build their infrastructure.

The demand for developers is changing, with a focus on seniority and fewer positions available.

Developers should not reconsider their career but be aware of the changing job market.

Job seekers should simulate job search scenarios to understand what skills are in demand.

Improving skills or adding demo projects to portfolios can make job applicants more attractive.

Simulating an eShop with high traffic can demonstrate a developer's capabilities to potential employers.

Brushing up on programming languages, frameworks, or new tools can be beneficial for developers.

The market's common sense, rather than AI, is driving the shift in job availability for developers.

Discussion encourages developers to share their thoughts on the changing job market.

Transcripts

hello guys another video from my car as

every Friday on this channel not that

much about lville but more about de

career and topic of today is Dev career

in terms of job of developers and the

market is changing I often hear the

thought and the idea will AI take our

jobs and recently I had a great

conversation with a friend who is a

business guy and he told me kind of a

provocative thought which I really liked

and I want to expand on in this video so

Dev job are taken and we have fewer Dev

job positions opened at the moment but

not because of ai ai is only one small

part of the reason the majority of jobs

are taken by well the economy shrinking

costs layoffs hiring freeze freezing the

projects freezing the budgets and stuff

like that the market is pretty harsh and

hard at the moment if you're looking for

a job so cutting costs on developers is

a pretty typical thing in 2024 but more

than that while rethinking their

strategies and budgets businesses

started thinking to Outsource the IT

projects not to developers but to

readymade SAS system subscriptions more

and more or other off the shelf

Solutions and it's not a new thing

things like Shopify and WordPress and

Wix and others were on the market pretty

long time ago but especially in these

years of savings for many small

businesses it makes sense to look for

readymade SAS Solutions and

subscriptions and pay $100 per month or

even less than hire a developer or even

in terms of development there are so

many readymade solutions for developers

that it's much faster to get to the

solution to the market for example in

Lille if you want to create a SAS

project for example for selling courses

or stuff like that you can take laral

spark for subscriptions jet stream maybe

filament a few more tools and packages

configure it all together hire a

designer to make it unique and that's it

so often times the job of a developer is

to configure tools and launch it and

maintain it with just some

customizations on top and also locally

in Lithuania I noticed more and more but

maybe it's worldwide Trend not just

locally so small businesses new

businesses like opening barber shop or

restaurants or small bakeries or

children playground rooms or stuff like

that they don't really need a website

these days what I typically find is that

they don't have a website they have

presence on Google Maps and Facebook

page that's it if they are active on

that Facebook page and maybe Instagram

they're doing advertising on that social

platforms where people already are and

they don't need to hire any developer to

run their business of course on the

other side of the spectrum if we're

talking about companies like shop

Shopify and others those companies do

need developers to well build their

infrastructure but then we're talking

about senior developers very senior

developers and not very many of those

are needed either so yeah my friend

during the conversation that I mentioned

in the beginning of this video he told

me that the jobs are taken not by AI but

by Common Sense of businesses they don't

overhire developers because they don't

really need them that much anymore for

smaller businesses and smaller projects

specifically so yeah sounds like dark

times but what should we do as

developers should you reconsider even

being a developer no not necessarily

it's just that the chance of being hired

these days is quite significantly lower

than 5 years ago let's say so what you

can do is search for a job try to search

for a job kind of mimic the situation

try to simulate the situation look

through job boards forums LinkedIn in in

your local country or wherever you would

be searching for a job if you're are not

searching at the moment and try to

simulate in your head or on paper how

you would be useful to that specific

companies try to imagine that you get

hired by specific company and what would

you actually do what infrastructure you

would work on what projects would you

work on and then reverse engineer what

skills you would need and then maybe try

to improve your skills or add some demo

project to your port portfolio for

example simulate some kind of small

eShop but with a lot of records and

traffic so you can show that to

potential employer when it's needed or

maybe you find out that you need to

brush your skills on some programming

language framework or new tools on the

market it depends so my advice would be

even if you're not looking for a job

directly now try to simulate what would

happen if you do try to look for a job

but generally the idea is that it's not

the AI that will take our jobs the

common sense of the market may do that

what do you think let's discuss in the

comments below and see you guys in other

videos