this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
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Web Development

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Web Development as a Career? (self.webdev)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by RuleNumber6 to c/webdev
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I'm looking to switch into a tech job in the future, and I'm wondering if web development could be a good choice. Ideally, I'd like an interesting job with a good work-life balance, and I would even be willing to take a pay cut later in my career in order to have more free time. I'm hoping to get some insight into the profession. I have three questions:

  1. Is it hard to find a position in web development with good work-life balance

  2. I’m considering getting a bachelors in computer science from WGU. Is it worth it or is the self taught route better?

  3. Does anyone have any experience in the program?

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

According to layoffs.fyi, the number is closer to a quarter million. There are around 4.4 million devs in the US, so that's something like a sixteenth of the workforce. A 6ish% unemployment rate isn't terrible.

We weathered the .com burst, which probably had much higher rates of layoffs.

I tend to be a pessimist, but I think we're in okay shape. If you're motivated, I think it's a great field to get into.

[–] Deely 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A 6ish% unemployment rate isn’t terrible.

What bothers me is that this number is across industry, its not like people can easily move to other company, because other companies also had layoffs. At least I have this feeling from reading comments from people that can't find job for half a year on HN and reddit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My very large, primarily software development company isn't on there. Layoffs.fyi doesn't have them all.

The work will certainly exist for the foreseeable future, but it's going to be hard to break into for the next few years.

[–] Ismay 4 points 1 year ago

I don't think it's necessary true.

You can't compare the employment of a former google/twitter/xxx bit tech dev to a junior just starting. Lived the precedent crisis and it's often easier to employ a cheap dev than a more expansive one,

But, it will clearly be harder no matter what.

As for OP, web dev is always a solid choice. If you really want to boost your resume, you may want to build some experience as an app dev too. It's often very looked for.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And let's face it, the bottom 6% could probably barely code.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You may be right about that, but the implication that there is an exact overlap between the least skilled and the unemployed is not true. Plenty of devs got laid off even by the most selective companies.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

And they probably got hired by another company. My company layed off devs, and we're currently hiring permanent remote devs.