And a good chunk of them probably hit it big at some point and retired early. I know so many software engineers my age (40s) that are effectively retired already.
Re:Why doctors in America earn so much
by bcrosby95 on Wednesday November 01, 2023 @05:09PM
(#38105304)
Yep. Most of my friends work as software engineers and we're in our 40s. And most of them have/could retire if they wanted to.
One was working at Google and got shit for taking time off when he planned it 6 months out. He quit and decided to retire early instead of putting up with it. He's 42.
I don't, but then again I didn't focus on applying to the giganto companies every single year...
Re:Why doctors in America earn so much
by BurningFrog on Wednesday November 01, 2023 @05:49PM
(#38105794)
As a 63 year old programmer, I can confirm the industry used to be much smaller.
A lot of people my age also retired because they had too much money to work :)
Re:Why doctors in America earn so much
by kcplate on Wednesday November 01, 2023 @08:02PM
(#38107144)
> much of that is because 40 years ago there were only a handful of 20-year-old programmers to start with.
Which also explains that the more youth you see competing for the gigs helps crowd out those of us elderly tech folk who are left.
I'd also point out that if people forget the growth-aspect, they will overestimate the problem of ageism in the industry.
Yes, there aren't that many grizzled 60-year-old programmers today... but much of that is because 40 years ago there were only a handful of 20-year-old programmers to start with.
Even if advancing age turned people into happy rockstars, they'd still be outnumbered today just because there are more jobs.