Well... my opinion is that you're right. I've been in the industry (without a degree and not in the US) for roughly 12 years in some capacity or another, with n

Well... my opinion is that you're right. I've been in the industry (without a degree and not in the US) for roughly 12 years in some capacity or another, with numerous gaps of a full year or more when some company has decided to lay me off and every other company can only make decisions with 6 inane interviews before deciding not to offer me anything. It's a soul-crushing idiotic grind that's burnt me out completely at least 3 times, to which I eventually had to take a menial job before eventually finding myself back in programming. This time... it doesn't seem like it's just a matter of not landing a job, it's that there aren't any. I'm not getting any calls, no interviews, there's almost literally no listings at all, and I haven't worked in nearly a year. I don't need reddit or blind to tell me that things are fucked. So, I'm gradually working on a small independent side project, and will attempt to build up some contracts, but I think it'll be to trade school soon. I have no idea if any of them will turn out successfully, but the market is dead and it's time to adapt and probably move on. Maybe interest rates drop and things change or we get incredibly lucky, but it's better to have some real skills anyway.