What fields/tech stacks would you recommend to specialize on? I have nearly a decade of experience in programming but I'll probably specialize just to stay in-demand.
I second this. I started developing just a couple of years early with you, I have ~10 years of experience now. On the first few years, I gained a lot since what I do all day is work eat and sleep.
Explore new things outside of work, which could be hard at first but you'll get better at it once you do it constantly.
I'm from SEA (Philippines) and work here remotely under a US consulting company. What I hate is it's like a stigma that because we're from a low-cost country we're paid much lower vs those from the West (around 50-70% less) considering I have the same set of skills for a 10yr Software Engineer. I think it shouldn't matter where you're from as long as you're doing a great job, money shouldn't matter.