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> This honestly is quite normal For our industry, during the last 20 years. Not normal for most industries. Or in IT before 2000. > I have seen a lot of my c

> This honestly is quite normal For our industry, during the last 20 years. Not normal for most industries. Or in IT before 2000. > I have seen a lot of my contractor friends go full-time during this pandemic though Yeah, that's why I think it's important to have an elastic life style if you are a freelancer. So that you can suddenly cut 80% of your expenses. If you have big loans, an expensive car, 2 children in private school and live in a pricey area, if you revenue get shots, you are in trouble. > But the risks were an illusion the whole time. It was surprising though, wasn't it? I mean I expected calls to stop, but I got more of them. Now I have people calling me for things that are very far from my specialty. Software is, indeed, eating the world.

AmericanChopper 5y ago
It’s been normal since software and the internet started to become an important part of every area of society. But that’s how economies progress. There was a period in recent history when demand for manufacturing labor greatly outstripped supply. Our skills are simply in demand by the fastest growing areas of the economy right now. Personally, I wasn’t surprised by this outcome. Temporary instability is what I was predicting. For demand for software engineers to actually tank, demand for software and software services would have to tank. I figured this was possible, but would require the entire global economy to collapse. So I figured it was unlikely, and in either case declining the offer I had to go full-time last year (when my employer at the time said they were terminating all their contractors) was most likely to be the correct decision (because full-time employment wasn’t going to protect me from global economic collapse). The thing that I didn’t predict at all, is how long travel restrictions would be in place. Which has turned out very well for software engineers in developed economies, because all developed economies import software engineering labor from developing economies.
- BiteCode_dev 5y ago
  Sure. Also, we were the industry with the most experience and tooling to work remotely, not to mention the best format for that. That couldn't have hurt.

AmericanChopper 5y ago

It’s been normal since software and the internet started to become an important part of every area of society. But that’s how economies progress. There was a period in recent history when demand for manufacturing labor greatly outstripped supply. Our skills are simply in demand by the fastest growing areas of the economy right now. Personally, I wasn’t surprised by this outcome. Temporary instability is what I was predicting. For demand for software engineers to actually tank, demand for software and software services would have to tank. I figured this was possible, but would require the entire global economy to collapse. So I figured it was unlikely, and in either case declining the offer I had to go full-time last year (when my employer at the time said they were terminating all their contractors) was most likely to be the correct decision (because full-time employment wasn’t going to protect me from global economic collapse). The thing that I didn’t predict at all, is how long travel restrictions would be in place. Which has turned out very well for software engineers in developed economies, because all developed economies import software engineering labor from developing economies.

BiteCode_dev 5y ago
Sure. Also, we were the industry with the most experience and tooling to work remotely, not to mention the best format for that. That couldn't have hurt.