If you can imagine many people in the 90s, one of the things you had to put on your resume was "Can handle a cash register". That was a real sought after skill for blue collar work. So, even for blue collar work, that skill is not necessary anymore because we don't really need cashiers like that anymore. If a person has three decades of cash register experience, it can be kind of a shock to realize that it wasn't some everlasting skill. It was kind of a transient thing. Such a person would have to reconcile that reality and find harmony and peace for the totality of their life.

We in tech are going to have to look at our current reality. The SQL experience that was everlasting on our resumes for decades may not be what we think it is anymore. That's just an example. There's some soul searching that's going to have to happen, so whatever you are going through is not unique to you by any stretch of the imagination.

There will be a culling of this profession. Some will reinvent themselves and push forward, some will find peace in leaving it behind. Some will be excited to enter it, and some will be scared off by the sight of the wreckage. It's a challenging moment, and the truth is it's just not going to be for everyone.

We are seeing first-hand that our profession was never a 1000 year profession like a Doctor or a Policeman. My personal belief is that if you don't love this, then you are going to get eaten alive in the current and coming re-shuffle. It's not just the developers that are going through this crisis, as I still see companies (new and old) that literally have no business existing given new information (AI).