Agreed. I dislike how every time we push for the "hot market for programmers" meme that only exists in the SV-like bubbles.

Everywhere else around the world, it's just a regular job people do to put food on the table.

Should we boycott people who work in the defense industry as well?

I've never lived in Silicon Valley. And I've been fired from jobs before. The longest I was ever unemployed not of my own volition was twelve days.

The poor benighted developer--engineers have expectations upon them that participants in this thread are clearly all too willing to abrogate, the term is invalid--will be just fine.

Not to contradict you, but your experience does not a rule make, and as with real estate, it's all about location, so, living in Europe, YMMV.

Sure it's impossible to be unemployed as a developer one could say by the number of search results from the keyword software in the job portals in my area, but after closer inspection, if you've been around the block a few times, you can easily tell that over 90% of those jobs are shitty micromanaged fake scrum-driven burnout meat grinders where you wouldn't last more than a couple of months.

So, the remaining 10% of jobs worth applying for are incredibly picky, and, without a prestigious resume (top companies, top school) you're not getting your foot in the door, even though you might master leet code.

Therefore, it took me 6 months on unemployment to find a quality workplace that would take me in and only because I invested in some certs in that time.

That sucks. I empathize. But I don't sympathize. It remains incumbent upon you, me, and every tech worker to prioritize decency of output regardless; our fellow humans shall demand it of us, morally first and legally if morally doesn't work.

The machine stops when we say "no". It's what we must do.

Yes