Where Did All The Tech Jobs Go and What You Can Do To Improve Your Chances of Finding One

Breaking down how tech went from one of the most lucrative industries to nearly impossible to find a job in, and detailing my tips to increase your chances of finding a job in 2024.

[Userupload]

I respect that you call out the economic incentives / manipulation that goes on behind the scenes. Executives and shareholders don't think hackers / engineers aren't smart enough to understand what's going on.
The layoffs to boost capital and stock valuations is wild.

[XionEternum]

Personal note: Do not look for niche tech jobs on Indeed or other online job boards without vetting the companies posting the jobs. It would appear there are some identity-theft rings posing as lucrative job postings that sound just a bit too good to be true. Find these upstarts directly and vet them before applying directly as well. Yes, this means researching instead of using job boards. Worth the effort though.

[dancan]

You covering this topic gave me some assurance that it wasn't just me experiencing this. I was recently contemplating my career path and the sense hopelessness of finding a job after graduating CS. I hope that anyone here who is in a similar position finds the right place because it is not in a good spot to be in.

[RandyFortier]

Great analysis.

In the education sector, everyone is chasing AI too. Instead of using it to improve their workflow, they are going all in on AI. That leaves huge knowledge gaps.

[rcoupvc]

I love the advice about tech jobs at non-tech. As a self-taught dev who cannot invert binary trees on a whiteboard, this has been my approach. Tech at non-tech interview process is typically a bit more straighforward than big tech. I would also add that networking is more important than it's ever been. Meet other people in the industry, keep in touch with people from previous jobs, and let friends and family know you're looking.

[brandonw]

Pivoting from security analyst to everything Microsoft from M365, SharePoint, Defender, Azure, and everything that encompasses the umbrella has made a world of difference for my wallet.

[Gksec-lrxg]

I couldn't be more happier after switching over to network engineering after ditching the scam regarding all those unfilled Cybersecurity roles and layoffs...

[johndray]

Just saw a YouTube documentary about you. Im excited to watch your content from time to time now.

[cig_in_mouth]

To be honest, i gave up applying. Reason it is totally waste of time, rather whatever money i have i am pursuing higher education, after completing higher education i hope market will be good.

[TuxTuxedo-ockg]

I do not regret learning to code in 2023 but I decided to switch to HR, because I do not see any hope of me getting any job in tech during my life.

[michael-jackson-helsinki]

Thanks, Marcus. You're a good speaker and a good thinker as well. I enjoyed watching!

[brendanvillines]

ive put in 1000s of applications and got 10-15 interviews out of them. Love it :)

[somjrgebn]

100% agree, "AI" is soooo much a bubble. This is coming from someone who has worked with a lot of startups in the silicon valley, but did some real-world physical engineering prior.

As shocking as this will sound, my guess is 90% is extreme hype. I've seen massive ML infrastructure expenditure to replace chemical engineers who use Computational Fluid Dynamics... which has been used for 50+ years just fine... millions down the toilet.

If you like physics, math, and/or coding, just go find some heavy engineering businesses or timeless businesses, e.g., energy, automation, finance, telecommunication, electronics, pharmaceutical, logistics/supply chain, laboratory, etc.

If you go 1000% deep in ML... you'll regret it. Going deep in mathematics, physics, statistics, probability, data structures, algorithms, and high-performance programming languages can be well worth it in comparison, though, especially if you still want to do very engineerish work, rather than only developer work.

If you’re wanting developer work and not heavy engineering work, I completely agree about going the hipster developer work. I'd say similar may be true with engineering heavy work, especially for small boutique shops, but I'm not sure you'll have too much luck in non-tech companies.

[BrianYamabe]

ZIRP started in 2009 with a slight bump in 2017-2019. Market distortion had gone on for 15 years. That’s why it’s so bad now.

[Zeioth]

15 years into international consulting so far. Worst mistake of my life. I love coding with all my heart, but I'm close to 40 and no hope of having a house or a future.

[joaquimley]

First time I had the pleasure of seeing your content, thank you for the no YouTuber bs video, good cadence. Subscribed.

[fadsa]

Great video. From my perspective the market didn't just start rewarding layoffs. It's been pretty common and used by companies with low growth to juke the stats during earnings season. I'd also advise a lot of people, especially those who entered the industry post 2020 and are struggling to find work to lower salary expectations. Yes you may have read about someone else making 150k with your years of experience but with less free money that's rarer. Even senior engineers I've spoken to who job hopped during covid are finding themselves in situations where a layoff or switching companies will mean a huge reduction in base salary

[byrond]

Cyber Security doesn't make these companies money. Upper management couldn't name 5 cyber security personnel which makes them all just a line it on a spreadsheet or what is commonly referred to as expendable.

[tacosyk]

Small things like messaging the HR manager on LinkedIn has helped me and many friends land the first interview into eventually a job.

[ryanrodriguez]

I learned about your story from a cybercrime stories channel. Glad to see you're doing well! I'm looking to pivot my career into the cybersecurity field but still not entirely sold on it. Appreciate the advice nonetheless.