Wall Street shrinks headcount as dealmaking and trading slump(bloomberg.com)
bloomberg.com
Wall Street shrinks headcount as dealmaking and trading slump
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-19/wall-street-shrinks-ranks-by-21-000-amid-deals-trading-slump
8 comments
https://archive.li/OTSyh
I think we're in for a bloodbath for white collar work the rest of this year. Trends I've been seeing:
1. The end of startup runway.
It's been about a year since VC money pulled back and there were a lot of startups that only had 12 to 18 months or runway left. I'm starting to see them go out of business in waves.
2. Late followers starting layoffs.
People I know at big corporate giants like insurance companies, retail chains, etc. are starting to get laid off. This took much longer than the big tech layoffs but seem to be starting in earnest.
3. Severance packages and savings running out.
This hasn't really happened yet for most people I know but will in the next 6 months.
1. The end of startup runway.
It's been about a year since VC money pulled back and there were a lot of startups that only had 12 to 18 months or runway left. I'm starting to see them go out of business in waves.
2. Late followers starting layoffs.
People I know at big corporate giants like insurance companies, retail chains, etc. are starting to get laid off. This took much longer than the big tech layoffs but seem to be starting in earnest.
3. Severance packages and savings running out.
This hasn't really happened yet for most people I know but will in the next 6 months.
Agreed. I also have to wonder if this is the beginning of the end of inflated tech salaries. I guess the two cases are
1. Paying $200-600k a year is fine, as long as you're hiring the best
2. Why pay $200-600k a year when the recently laid-off person will do it for <$200?
Are companies still confident that they're doing #1 accurately?
1. Paying $200-600k a year is fine, as long as you're hiring the best
2. Why pay $200-600k a year when the recently laid-off person will do it for <$200?
Are companies still confident that they're doing #1 accurately?
TC deflation from 600k to 200k would be a disaster. Personally it would break my family.
As of 2021, the state with the highest median household income was Maryland with 90K. [1] Being even double the median household income should never be family breaking.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...
It would break my family. It would mean living in a small cramped place near the highway(s) with bad public schools.
You can argue from your data all you want, but it would 100% lead to divorce.
You can argue from your data all you want, but it would 100% lead to divorce.
Yes, but that much of a decrease would be broad and that housing cost would collapse.
Welcome to the real world. Move somewhere more affordable.
Who is to say what is real? I grew up in a 3rd world country in what most Americans would call poverty. Was that more real than living a middle class life in Montana?
I’m just giving my personal perspective: I have assumed substantial responsibilities with long term duration and liability. A precipitous drop in income would be cataclysmic.
Move somewhere else indeed! How is that not destroying the life we’ve built so far?
I’m just giving my personal perspective: I have assumed substantial responsibilities with long term duration and liability. A precipitous drop in income would be cataclysmic.
Move somewhere else indeed! How is that not destroying the life we’ve built so far?
For richer, for poorer*
* but not less than $200k, this is a marriage not a charity.
* but not less than $200k, this is a marriage not a charity.
Man, I get that there are locations where getting a high paying job also means that 100-200k can mean a surprisingly sparse lifestyle for what most people would expect, but there is nowhere in the US there is no where in the US where you are earning 600k that dropping down to 200k should break your family.
We’re you not putting away any sort of money for emergencies? Do you need to stay at the now theoretical 200k job even if cost of living in the area remains the same, or could you move to somewhere lower cost of living?
I see in your other comments that you would end up in a divorce if you had to lower your lifestyle, and then you described what is still above the average persons lot in life in the US by even owning a home (cramped and by the highway or not).
You and your spouse should get some therapy on why your’re so materialistic, or just accept that you are and then deal with living in a system that will drop you the second it can.
We’re you not putting away any sort of money for emergencies? Do you need to stay at the now theoretical 200k job even if cost of living in the area remains the same, or could you move to somewhere lower cost of living?
I see in your other comments that you would end up in a divorce if you had to lower your lifestyle, and then you described what is still above the average persons lot in life in the US by even owning a home (cramped and by the highway or not).
You and your spouse should get some therapy on why your’re so materialistic, or just accept that you are and then deal with living in a system that will drop you the second it can.
> You and your spouse should get some therapy on why your’re so materialistic
This seems pretty uncalled for. You don't know their story, don't make assumptions you do and that you are qualified to give smug advice.
This seems pretty uncalled for. You don't know their story, don't make assumptions you do and that you are qualified to give smug advice.
I know as much story as he gave and 3 kids + spouse(who is either working and bringing in income or is stay at home and they don’t have daycare costs) doesn’t fit anywhere in the US as being leveraged to the hilt unless you are living in the lap of luxury or bad with money.
I’m assuming they work in tech and so can handle the math behind finances which really only leaves living way beyond their means. I think that’s backed up him disparaging needing to live in houses near a highway as part of why he would get divorced.
I’m assuming they work in tech and so can handle the math behind finances which really only leaves living way beyond their means. I think that’s backed up him disparaging needing to live in houses near a highway as part of why he would get divorced.
I thought we were discussing a permanent market shift? Emergency fund won’t cut it if it’s the new normal.
In my opinion it’s not your place to tell others to “get some therapy”. My opinion: no amount of therapy can address your children going to a 4/10 school breathing leaded AV gas fumes.
In my opinion it’s not your place to tell others to “get some therapy”. My opinion: no amount of therapy can address your children going to a 4/10 school breathing leaded AV gas fumes.
If it’s a permanent market shift why would the costs in your area stay the same?
And again you’re trying to bring up that living like the vast majority of your countrymen is unacceptable. How gated is your compound that you don’t have any leaded gas fumes in the air? If you’re in a HCOL area then you’re either on a super luxury property or by a city with airports and airplanes have leaded fuel last I checked(2010-2012)
And again you’re trying to bring up that living like the vast majority of your countrymen is unacceptable. How gated is your compound that you don’t have any leaded gas fumes in the air? If you’re in a HCOL area then you’re either on a super luxury property or by a city with airports and airplanes have leaded fuel last I checked(2010-2012)
Honest question, why couldn’t your family survive on 200k? High mortgage? “Break my family” seems pretty hefty and 200k is a decent chunk of change.
Kids are expensive and housing is intractable where the mid-level jobs are. In some housing markets, a family with 2 boys and 2 girls earning $150K/yr will qualify for government subsidized housing. It's not 1995 anymore and not everywhere is the suburban midwest.
Poverty line for a single person in San Fran is $80k/year.
In pretty much any flyover state 80k a year is decent, and somewhere like Rural Kentucky, will put you into a fairly nice house. I know folks who took a big pay cut to work remotely so they could leave NoVA and head to KY. They could get a sizable house for ~$290k (and they're from KY / have fam around, a big selling point) and basically as much land as they're comfortable with.
And to the parent poster's point, kids definitely change the equation. Not even talking things like private schools or fancy sports, just simple stuff like diapers, or replacing a torn backpack cuz Jr. decided he likes swinging it around as he walks home. And braces, jeez.
In pretty much any flyover state 80k a year is decent, and somewhere like Rural Kentucky, will put you into a fairly nice house. I know folks who took a big pay cut to work remotely so they could leave NoVA and head to KY. They could get a sizable house for ~$290k (and they're from KY / have fam around, a big selling point) and basically as much land as they're comfortable with.
And to the parent poster's point, kids definitely change the equation. Not even talking things like private schools or fancy sports, just simple stuff like diapers, or replacing a torn backpack cuz Jr. decided he likes swinging it around as he walks home. And braces, jeez.
The difference between 80K and 600K works out to be a whole heck of a lot of diapers and backpacks
*In some housing markets, a family with 2 boys and 2 girls earning $150K/yr will qualify for government subsidized housing
Going to need some support for that...Because that's definitely not true in one of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S., Los Angeles.
Going to need some support for that...Because that's definitely not true in one of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S., Los Angeles.
Boston's income-restricted housing program is available up to 150% AMI, and 100% AMI is a pretty common cutoff. A 6 person household with $150K is 90% AMI. In fact, even $200K at 120% AMI still qualifies for some units.
There's a calculator you can use that will estimate AMI and generate lists of subsidized units available: https://www.boston.gov/metrolist/ami-estimator/
The limits in LA are lower, but a six person family still qualifies for public assistance at $117K: https://housing.lacity.org/housing/helping-low-income-first-...
There's a calculator you can use that will estimate AMI and generate lists of subsidized units available: https://www.boston.gov/metrolist/ami-estimator/
The limits in LA are lower, but a six person family still qualifies for public assistance at $117K: https://housing.lacity.org/housing/helping-low-income-first-...
Very high cost of living. Mortgage, 3 children, no grand parents.
Grow up.
Agreed, tracking my LinkedIn search notifications I’ve seen the open positions for tech start to plummet, to where last week my specific job description (cyber engineer) has now had 0% new positions.
This is all public information. Why hasn't the market reacted?
EDIT: I was convinced what you said (or similar) was true and missed the better part of last year's gain. Going forward I will be very careful when people confidently claim that "things will be much worse". What I learned is that it is always the unpredictable stuff that tanks the market. So I might as well put money into the index and not wait or worry about it.
EDIT: I was convinced what you said (or similar) was true and missed the better part of last year's gain. Going forward I will be very careful when people confidently claim that "things will be much worse". What I learned is that it is always the unpredictable stuff that tanks the market. So I might as well put money into the index and not wait or worry about it.
+ student loan repayments returning, which i expect to lower consumer spending elsewhere in the economy.
> With the reductions in headcount, severance costs drove up expenses across the six largest US banks. Expenses tied to personnel and compensation jumped 6% to $95.5 billion.
It's almost like… the bankers were paid too much?
Wait wait wait… the folks involved with moving money around decided that they're not worth as much as they've been compensated?
You mean to tell me moving money around professionally isn't as valuable to society as maybe the last 40 years postulated it was????
It's almost like… the bankers were paid too much?
Wait wait wait… the folks involved with moving money around decided that they're not worth as much as they've been compensated?
You mean to tell me moving money around professionally isn't as valuable to society as maybe the last 40 years postulated it was????
>Wait wait wait… the folks involved with moving money around decided that they're not worth as much as they've been compensated?
>You mean to tell me moving money around professionally isn't as valuable to society as maybe the last 40 years postulated it was????
As opposed to tech people working in adtech?
>You mean to tell me moving money around professionally isn't as valuable to society as maybe the last 40 years postulated it was????
As opposed to tech people working in adtech?
> As opposed to tech people working in adtech?
No, not at all, I think we can say the same about those people. Or even more broadly, tech in general, we are only paid these absurd sums of money because our work can scale very easily/cheaply to our employers, as an individual I produce millions of US$ worth/month to my employer but as value to society I don't know why I'm being paid multiples of what nurses, and teachers earn. At least I'm not in adtech or finance, lessens the disgust a little.
I think a lot of us are very aware of that fact.
No, not at all, I think we can say the same about those people. Or even more broadly, tech in general, we are only paid these absurd sums of money because our work can scale very easily/cheaply to our employers, as an individual I produce millions of US$ worth/month to my employer but as value to society I don't know why I'm being paid multiples of what nurses, and teachers earn. At least I'm not in adtech or finance, lessens the disgust a little.
I think a lot of us are very aware of that fact.
> Or even more broadly, tech in general, we are only paid these absurd sums of money because our work can scale very easily/cheaply
Yes, and the fact that every tech giant is a monopolist in their field.
Advertising/Retail/Enterprise productivity/Social Media, etc.
Yes, and the fact that every tech giant is a monopolist in their field.
Advertising/Retail/Enterprise productivity/Social Media, etc.
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I get where you're coming from, but I am going to push back a bit.
Most of the folks getting fired are low level scut workers that are trying to get by and maybe even thrive (most wont), sort of like most of us.
The folks that truly deserve the hate for the direction financial services has gone in are the c-suite execs and their board of directors, with a little going to regulators that are bought and paid for.
Most of the folks getting fired are low level scut workers that are trying to get by and maybe even thrive (most wont), sort of like most of us.
The folks that truly deserve the hate for the direction financial services has gone in are the c-suite execs and their board of directors, with a little going to regulators that are bought and paid for.
> valuable to society
That was outside the scope of this project.
That was outside the scope of this project.
"listen the requirements state that the project is there to make these people rich. if there is no L1s or L2s, we ain't doing any work for society. we have deadlines, dammit."
:high_five:
Who is society and how do we ask they what's desired?
If they were, more people would become bankers and drive down wages. That's the nice thing about free markets: if you think someone else is getting a better deal you can get it too!
Seems to pale in comparison to the number of tech layoffs ( ~220k in 2023)
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Replace the lot with ai. They want to replace us anyway, without paying royalties mind you, so they might just as well start with themselves.
I get this is a flippant comment, but this is not about AI, this is about a slow down in business, not about replacing people with AI.
Punchline is - economy is bad and getting worse.
Punchline is - economy is bad and getting worse.
I would argue that it has very little to do with the economy. Interest rate is high so companies don't have access to cheap funding to finance their mergers and acquisitions hence the slowdown in M&A deals on Wall Street.
Just slap the word “AI” on it and magically you don’t need employees anymore!
My business relies on machine learning blockchain Web 3.0 to do all the work.
My business relies on machine learning blockchain Web 3.0 to do all the work.
Here's a better one, check this out.
"Our customers are all AI and they pay with a crypto we made." - I call this the commerce centipede, based on South Park's HUMANCENTiPAD.
Basically, if these companies automate end to end, both product and customer they've enabled the endless money cheat. They can even build their own little parallel government where the board rules as benevolant benefactors.
"Our customers are all AI and they pay with a crypto we made." - I call this the commerce centipede, based on South Park's HUMANCENTiPAD.
Basically, if these companies automate end to end, both product and customer they've enabled the endless money cheat. They can even build their own little parallel government where the board rules as benevolant benefactors.
My AI dawg heard that I like AI, so now my AI fully relies on AI to do all the AI for the AIs.
forgot cloud.
an older buzzword but still gets eyeballs
an older buzzword but still gets eyeballs
I recall too PE funds like Bravo salivating at how they’ll save 10-20% in Eng costs from AI
Somehow doubt that will occur for finance functions
Somehow doubt that will occur for finance functions
Most of the people who are going to be let go are pretty talented and hopefully fairly flexible. They'll find work, maybe not at the salaries that they were getting before, but this has happened many times before.
Hi former Wall Street employees the planet could really use your help. Tech, Capital, and Web3 may be in a slump at the moment but industrial, environmental and infrastructure can't find enough people. The pay isn't as sexy and you may have to relocate to unsophisticated parts of the country. But if you've noticed, the Earth is heating up dramatically and this is a problem that can't be solved with a spreadsheet.
Not a wall st employee, but I'm ostensibly staying put at my family-supporting job for a couple more years while some money stuff works itself out, but if things go according to plan (lol), in two years I could make 25+% less and maintain our current lifestyle. I could go chase that green job that will pay less. I would have to relocate my whole family, do a lot of paperwork, figure some shit out with schools and a kid that might need a little extra help, but it's possible.
I _do_ think we need to be changing our consumption habits, lifestyles, and careers to better ensure humanity's survival, but every single person is thinking like I am in that previous paragraph. I _could_ do the above, but for what… to do web app dev work for a company that's only kinda getting off the ground?
We've made employment in the US so precarious, even for the college educated people with skills and half a life of career left in them, that this calculus is just too much to take on. You need a small army of smart and capable people with some financial stability and social cushion to do this stuff.
Big problems demand big changes — I get it — but if you want big change in the US, you need to move political mountains that have not been moved for quite some time. I don't think the spreadsheet jockeys are would be good at that (just a guess).
I _do_ think we need to be changing our consumption habits, lifestyles, and careers to better ensure humanity's survival, but every single person is thinking like I am in that previous paragraph. I _could_ do the above, but for what… to do web app dev work for a company that's only kinda getting off the ground?
We've made employment in the US so precarious, even for the college educated people with skills and half a life of career left in them, that this calculus is just too much to take on. You need a small army of smart and capable people with some financial stability and social cushion to do this stuff.
Big problems demand big changes — I get it — but if you want big change in the US, you need to move political mountains that have not been moved for quite some time. I don't think the spreadsheet jockeys are would be good at that (just a guess).
> pay isn't as sexy and you may have to relocate to unsophisticated parts of the country
This isn’t a pitch that will attract top talent. There is work in novel energy and industrial opportunities that hold potential to create billion-dollar companies. They may require travelling to exotic domestic locales, but you’ll meet people outside the mainstream and may be able to commute in from somewhere desirable.
This isn’t a pitch that will attract top talent. There is work in novel energy and industrial opportunities that hold potential to create billion-dollar companies. They may require travelling to exotic domestic locales, but you’ll meet people outside the mainstream and may be able to commute in from somewhere desirable.
Neither is it a problem which can be solved with magical techno solutions alone.
The primary way is to solve it is through systemic and habit change, so I would say if these people wanted to help the environment, they're better off getting into politics.
The primary way is to solve it is through systemic and habit change, so I would say if these people wanted to help the environment, they're better off getting into politics.
You don't have to engineer magic solutions to be part of the solution. Configuring Salesforce and automating payroll for a climate company is still helping. There's an industry around changing minds as much as there around reducing CO2.
Something tells me these Wall Street types aren’t going to be too interested in the pervasive industrial re-regulation necessary to make a dent in atmospheric CO2 levels over the next century.
> Something tells me these Wall Street types aren’t going to be too interested in the industrial re-regulation necessary to make a dent in atmospheric CO2 levels over the next century
What or who is that? Wall Street’s rank and file is left of centre on social issues.
What or who is that? Wall Street’s rank and file is left of centre on social issues.
Regulation of emissions isn't a social issue. It's an economic one.
In the way worker non-discrimination isn’t a social issue.
Steve Castle from Futurama [1] is all I can think of when I read this
https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/Steve_Castle
https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/Steve_Castle
Do you think the severance money may go towards efforts to find a cure for boneitis?
You're very, very wrong. Most Wall St employees are coastal, big city, college-educated. They tend to be overwhelmingly liberal. I was at the Goldman Sachs headquarters the day after the 2016 election and the mood was utterly morose.
It’s not really about liberal versus conservative. Their livelihood depends on the federal government maintaining a certain consistent laxity in financial regulation; unfortunately, it seems like consistent strictness in regulation will be necessary to make real progress on climate change.
This theory of mine explains their post-2016 depression, I think. Everyone knew he would make chaotic policies and wild card political appointments. I’m sure he was horrid for their bottom line.
But yeah, I could be wrong. Never really got in with that crowd for some reason. If GS’ charitable arm has given some reasonable fraction of their pool to green charities or something, I’ll change my mind.
This theory of mine explains their post-2016 depression, I think. Everyone knew he would make chaotic policies and wild card political appointments. I’m sure he was horrid for their bottom line.
But yeah, I could be wrong. Never really got in with that crowd for some reason. If GS’ charitable arm has given some reasonable fraction of their pool to green charities or something, I’ll change my mind.
I think you're missing what we're getting at. OP was talking about rank and file employees. 99% of people who work at Goldman Sachs don't really give a shit what's good for Goldman Sachs. A substantial percentage actively dislike their employer, but just want a nice paycheck. They are people working a job. Like 1/4 of GS employees are technologists. They don't know or care about how climate regulation affects their business. In fact, a lot of employees jobs are mitigating compliance risk so they literally depend on onerous regulation to stay employed. I'd wager a substantial percentage of GS employees don't even know how to trade stocks.
I find it really hard to believe that even a mere “technologist” wouldn’t understand how their bread gets buttered, but maybe they’re even less engaged than I’ve heard & seen.
I think we’re starting to talk past each other, but for the sake of pointing out where we seemingly agree: GS employees are more-or-less self-interested, and they do depend on gaming (or mitigating risk, I suppose) regulations to stay employed. Neither of those make great bullet points on a green tech pivot resume, which was more or less my original point?
I brought up their charitable org specifically because I recall an acquaintance who works there saying it was more employee-driven than the average corporate tax amelioration scheme. Maybe he was wrong? He’s only been there for five years or so.
I think we’re starting to talk past each other, but for the sake of pointing out where we seemingly agree: GS employees are more-or-less self-interested, and they do depend on gaming (or mitigating risk, I suppose) regulations to stay employed. Neither of those make great bullet points on a green tech pivot resume, which was more or less my original point?
I brought up their charitable org specifically because I recall an acquaintance who works there saying it was more employee-driven than the average corporate tax amelioration scheme. Maybe he was wrong? He’s only been there for five years or so.
So people can take a huge pay cut and give up their social lives to go and do work people pretend to care about by won't actually pay for? And meanwhile the rest of us stay in our high pay jobs in nice areas enjoying all the infrastructure and environmental services that we refused to pay market rate for?
Wow, that's just brutal.
Wow, that's just brutal.
Fossil fuels are more than 70% of our GHG emissions. We need to replace fossil fuels faster than we currently plan to.
How will Web3 help with that?
UPDATE: Indeed — Apologies, this is what I get for reading on my phone in bed without my glasses. I mashed the passage together and misinterpreted the suggestion.
How will Web3 help with that?
UPDATE: Indeed — Apologies, this is what I get for reading on my phone in bed without my glasses. I mashed the passage together and misinterpreted the suggestion.
I read it as "Some things, including web3, are in a slump; why not do these other things"
Good lord though at "unsophisticated parts of the country"
Good lord though at "unsophisticated parts of the country"
Cue the banjos. What a great sales pitch. lolsob.
But, there are many 2nd/3rd tier cities and towns that have a reasonable number of jobs, better COL, and possibly better quality of life (depending on your priorities).
Places like Roanoke VA. Small, old industrial city. But, the downtown is fairly vibrant, outdoor recreation is excellent, and between Roanoke proper and the adjacent Blacksburg (Virginia Tech) and Christainsburg, there's a reasonably sized job market that spans quite a few industries. Someplace like this is our current plan for near-retirement into retirement.
But, there are many 2nd/3rd tier cities and towns that have a reasonable number of jobs, better COL, and possibly better quality of life (depending on your priorities).
Places like Roanoke VA. Small, old industrial city. But, the downtown is fairly vibrant, outdoor recreation is excellent, and between Roanoke proper and the adjacent Blacksburg (Virginia Tech) and Christainsburg, there's a reasonably sized job market that spans quite a few industries. Someplace like this is our current plan for near-retirement into retirement.
Coincidentally, I'm also a Hokie and really loved walking around downtown Blacksburg, Roanoke and Richmond (fuck C-ville, LOL). Like a lot of land-grant universities, it's a drop of blue in a sea of red. And that is why I haven't been back in over a decade. Being from Florida I was stopped and questioned by small town police every time I drove home.
Cavalier here - bite your tongue! ;)
I loved my 4 years in Charlottesville, but don't think I could live there. The COL drop from DC isn't enough to be worth the move. And the horse country "I got mine, so f--- you" vibe rustles my jimmies (we get the same thing in the western DC suburbs).
Your police experience is "normal" for Florida plates, and applies to the state troopers and suburban police too. "FL tag, must be a drug mule." Infuriating, but at least you can take solace in knowing you weren't singled out any more than another other FL resident driving through.
I loved my 4 years in Charlottesville, but don't think I could live there. The COL drop from DC isn't enough to be worth the move. And the horse country "I got mine, so f--- you" vibe rustles my jimmies (we get the same thing in the western DC suburbs).
Your police experience is "normal" for Florida plates, and applies to the state troopers and suburban police too. "FL tag, must be a drug mule." Infuriating, but at least you can take solace in knowing you weren't singled out any more than another other FL resident driving through.
> Tech, Capital, and Web3 may be in a slump at the moment but industrial, environmental and infrastructure can't find enough people
I don't think that was their suggestion, it was a pragmatic appeal to hiring chances in case a call to action on environmental issues alone isn't compelling.
I don't think that was their suggestion, it was a pragmatic appeal to hiring chances in case a call to action on environmental issues alone isn't compelling.
What skills would they have that would be useful to any of those fields? They have spreadsheet type banking skills.
I wouldn't be useful for those fields either as a software engineer. I have coding skills, but cannot really do anything else.
I wouldn't be useful for those fields either as a software engineer. I have coding skills, but cannot really do anything else.
>I have coding skills, but cannot really do anything else.
I don't know how you think that could mean you'd be useless. Coding skills are useful in a lot of places, especially so when there are few programmers around.
In my previous job there was a team doing calibration. They hired a software guy to do some scripting work. After half a year he automated all the calibration work and essentially made 30 engineers jobless. You basically only need somebody to record enough data and let the script auto-calibrate everything.
Not every job will have such low-hanging fruit in terms of automation potential, but in places where a software engineer hasn't looked there will usually be a lot of processes that can be automated.
I don't know how you think that could mean you'd be useless. Coding skills are useful in a lot of places, especially so when there are few programmers around.
In my previous job there was a team doing calibration. They hired a software guy to do some scripting work. After half a year he automated all the calibration work and essentially made 30 engineers jobless. You basically only need somebody to record enough data and let the script auto-calibrate everything.
Not every job will have such low-hanging fruit in terms of automation potential, but in places where a software engineer hasn't looked there will usually be a lot of processes that can be automated.
SCADA endpoints get smarter and more capable everyday. Many are running a simple API server. You'd fit right in because the codebase for hardware is approaching the modern coding practices of the web.
I just met a family friend who changed careers from banking and mortgages to installing EVSEs and PowerWalls. He's also making $500k, 3x his previous salary.
I just met a family friend who changed careers from banking and mortgages to installing EVSEs and PowerWalls. He's also making $500k, 3x his previous salary.
I know some guys who get millions a year to play basketball, but all the blue collar workers I know work way too hard for something like $50-60K/year.
Virtue > Skill
Do you have any reading for these industries and their problems? Maybe a taxonomy?
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