Re:Ask HN: Should I quit the field of software development?
by LostTrackHowM on Sunday September 13, 2020 @12:35PM
(#24461995)
As an outsider to the industry, I have always wondered what the situation is like in smaller companies or for starting your own business to serve local clients.
Small companies, typically startups, are diverse. Some like hiring diamonds in the rough, which can include old developers. Other are obsessed with youth.
Starting your own business or consulting are standard and popular options for old developers.
As an industry insider, people complain as loudly as people from any industry. But just look at the actual unemployment and pay rates per industry. Few other industries are better.
Part of the reason why I ask is that most of the places that I have worked for respect experience more than youth, and couldn't care less if the firms that they were contracting work out to employed experienced developers in their 20's or their 50's.