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It’s been like that for a while, economic gains went to a small fraction of people, before software developers were among those that were on the winning side, n

It’s been like that for a while, economic gains went to a small fraction of people, before software developers were among those that were on the winning side, now they’re on the losing side. Think about how much the US economy is growing right now and who really profits from that growth. My guess is that 90 % of the growth goes to 10 % of people, with AI maybe 99 % might go to the 1 %. Or who do you think will gain from the tokenization of development? You’re just supposed to be more productive and the gains the company achieves will just go to the owners as they are in a great position right now and developers are scared shitless to get fired, so no one is increasing salaries or time off, instead most companies hang the threat of layoffs over people’s head to keep them in line. And the funny thing is we developers did this to ourselves, by doing free open source work for the greater good, which now feeds AI models that are replacing many of us. But I guess most people didn’t care as they made good money while it lasted.

abletonlive 5mo ago
> before software developers were among those that were on the winning side, now they’re on the losing side. are you sure about that? i'm a software engineer and i feel like i'm on the wining side now, even more than before. I'm considering quitting my 500K a year job to go compete against the employers. they seem like dinosaurs to me.
- forcedtolinux 5mo ago
  you personally are winning, but 500k comp is an outlier and not the norm, especially now
  - abletonlive 5mo ago
    You don't understand what I'm saying. I'm saying the 500K comp is not worth it and i want to quit to go compete against all the employers that are offering such comp. I am positioning myself to do it this year. Software engineers have more leverage than ever.
    - Gooblebrai 4mo ago
      Software engineers with a network and sales skills
- throwaway63467 5mo ago
  Well congrats man you might belong to the 1 % then
- goatlover 5mo ago
  Even if so, should you want that to be how society is organized going forward? Because I think the evidence is societies are worse off when there is too much economic disparity, even if you personally benefit. And the greater the disparity, the more likely for there to be serious unrest in the future.
Tade0 5mo ago
> And the funny thing is we developers did this to ourselves, by doing free open source work for the greater good, which now feeds AI models that are replacing many of us. Open source is not to blame here. AI companies used the code, in some cases against the license, to train their models. Nobody is actually getting replaced - it's just that layoffs are in vogue now. If there was productivity to gain here, it would be used to do more and capture more of the market.
- therealpygon 5mo ago
  “Nobody is actually getting replaced” is an interesting take given currently available information on force reductions, stated cause, and AI implementation increases across sectors replacing workloads and causing fewer employees to accomplish the same goals, regardless of any opinions on whether that is positive, negative, problematic, or anything else to the future since the impact is now. Could you point to some factual basis for that claim, or is this a feeling disguised as an opinion disguised as a factual statement?
  - GoodJokes 5mo ago
    [dead]
  - suttontom 5mo ago
    https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/technology/ai-layoffs-transformation-scapegoat https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/technology/ai-layoffs... https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2025/10/seven-myths-about-ai-and-productivity-what-the-evidence-really-says/ https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2025/10/seven-myths-about-ai-and-pr... https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/26/1137855/a-reality-check-on-the-ai-jobs-hysteria/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/26/1137855/a-realit... You?
    - therealpygon 4mo ago
      Cool opinion pieces that build stories from cherry-picked data. My sources? Easy. Just try searching for news stories of companies directly stating AI is the reason for layoffs. I don’t need to do any statistical or mental gymnastics for my evidence of it happening when it is literally as easy as looking at the result and the stated causes.
jgilias 5mo ago
We’re going to be fine. I see daily what non-engineers that build stuff with AI come up with.
- Peaches4Rent 5mo ago
  Not the point. If you don't get paid more for being more productive, someone else is getting richer. That means they buy the houses in your neighborhood, which means you can't buy it because they outbid you
- yifanl 5mo ago
  You need to realize that people generally don't care about the quality of software. Crowdstrike shut down every airport in the world and is still in business today.

abletonlive 5mo ago

> before software developers were among those that were on the winning side, now they’re on the losing side. are you sure about that? i'm a software engineer and i feel like i'm on the wining side now, even more than before. I'm considering quitting my 500K a year job to go compete against the employers. they seem like dinosaurs to me.

forcedtolinux 5mo ago
you personally are winning, but 500k comp is an outlier and not the norm, especially now
- abletonlive 5mo ago
  You don't understand what I'm saying. I'm saying the 500K comp is not worth it and i want to quit to go compete against all the employers that are offering such comp. I am positioning myself to do it this year. Software engineers have more leverage than ever.
  - Gooblebrai 4mo ago
    Software engineers with a network and sales skills
throwaway63467 5mo ago
Well congrats man you might belong to the 1 % then
goatlover 5mo ago
Even if so, should you want that to be how society is organized going forward? Because I think the evidence is societies are worse off when there is too much economic disparity, even if you personally benefit. And the greater the disparity, the more likely for there to be serious unrest in the future.

Tade0 5mo ago

> And the funny thing is we developers did this to ourselves, by doing free open source work for the greater good, which now feeds AI models that are replacing many of us. Open source is not to blame here. AI companies used the code, in some cases against the license, to train their models. Nobody is actually getting replaced - it's just that layoffs are in vogue now. If there was productivity to gain here, it would be used to do more and capture more of the market.

therealpygon 5mo ago
“Nobody is actually getting replaced” is an interesting take given currently available information on force reductions, stated cause, and AI implementation increases across sectors replacing workloads and causing fewer employees to accomplish the same goals, regardless of any opinions on whether that is positive, negative, problematic, or anything else to the future since the impact is now. Could you point to some factual basis for that claim, or is this a feeling disguised as an opinion disguised as a factual statement?
- GoodJokes 5mo ago
  [dead]
- suttontom 5mo ago
  https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/technology/ai-layoffs-transformation-scapegoat https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/technology/ai-layoffs... https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2025/10/seven-myths-about-ai-and-productivity-what-the-evidence-really-says/ https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2025/10/seven-myths-about-ai-and-pr... https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/26/1137855/a-reality-check-on-the-ai-jobs-hysteria/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/26/1137855/a-realit... You?
  - therealpygon 4mo ago
    Cool opinion pieces that build stories from cherry-picked data. My sources? Easy. Just try searching for news stories of companies directly stating AI is the reason for layoffs. I don’t need to do any statistical or mental gymnastics for my evidence of it happening when it is literally as easy as looking at the result and the stated causes.

jgilias 5mo ago

We’re going to be fine. I see daily what non-engineers that build stuff with AI come up with.

Peaches4Rent 5mo ago
Not the point. If you don't get paid more for being more productive, someone else is getting richer. That means they buy the houses in your neighborhood, which means you can't buy it because they outbid you
yifanl 5mo ago
You need to realize that people generally don't care about the quality of software. Crowdstrike shut down every airport in the world and is still in business today.