Ask HN: Has The Software Engineering Career Lost a Lot of Respect? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Has The Software Engineering Career Lost a Lot of Respect?

2 pointskarakoram7 comments

Generally speaking, a career in computer science/SWE was respected and highly regarded by the public before AI.

I understand there was always the "weird" & "nerd" stereotype but it seems like a majority of people don't see SWE in the same light as other "white-collar" careers after AI.

Do you think this field has taken a reputational hit compared to Management, Law, Medicine, Finance, and Engineering?

What are your thoughts? Have you seen or noticed this shift? Thank you.

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> Generally speaking, a career in computer science/SWE was respected and highly regarded by the public before AI.

When? How so? Please provide examples. I think startup lottery wins and FAANG comp was highly regarded before AI ("kingmakers" and "software eating the world," which arguably hasn't held up so well in hindsight), but not the actual craft and practice of software engineering (except perhaps in specific organizations or teams that cultivated an engineering focused culture, which is certainly not the norm, but should be recognized as a net positive).

Sometimes status and comp align, but not always. Doctors are gods of medicine, attorneys gods of the law and legal system. Finance, titans of industry, masters of the universe. Software engineers? Not so much. They are applied mathematicians if you will, with similar status.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-component_theory_of_stra...

It’s true that other fields, even other kinds of engineering, have a professional licensing requirement. Even so, there are a lot of jobs that lawyers do that can be easily automated and have been for a long time (common contracts) but I would want a real lawyer to represent me if I was the defendant in a criminal trial.

Then why do all the departments come to me when they need help with something lol

"The reward for good work is more work." Because they come to you to make their problem go away does not mean there is respect behind it. They would go to a vending machine if it would fix their problem, or Claude, for example.

This is not a failing on your part of course, this is a systems, status, and organizational problem. More often than not, those performing thankless work reliably and/or who have spent the time and energy necessary to build institutional knowledge are not rewarded or recognized for doing so. Best I can suggest is vote with your feet if and when it bothers you. In almost all cases, you cannot fix orgs and systems, you simply won't have the leverage or be in a position of power to do so.

https://xkcd.com/2347/

(~25 years in tech, thoughts and opinions always my own, n=1, ymmv)

Yes, since we hear a lot about AI doing the majority of programming for many SWEs, my take is that SWE is more than programming. It takes a lot of expertise to create a successful software application. So, as people begin to use AI to create ever more useful and complex programs, it won’t be a situation where SWEs let AI do all the work. SWE will regain some of its respect. AI is taking some of the shine off many careers, so it’s not just SWEs. Only time will tell which careers will be at the top in the coming years, but those who understand AI and its creation will certainly be respected.

Yes, but I don't see Law or Engineering as necessarily safe either. AI will take the domains that require informational triage and computation first.

Tech has never been as respected as finance, law, or medicine.

It didn't really merit the respect.

Traditional licensed engineering is harder, has higher risk, and should have been more respected. Software engineering just had unlimited supply since copying software is free so the unit economics we easy to achieve, copying a bridge has a bill of materials and construction cost and time.

Physical utility that manifest in the real world is undervalued, doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers, should be more respected, and would be, in a sticks and stones and wetware human reality, early 20th century economy.

Finance and Tech are really over valued due to runaway capitalism, in a virtual and synthetic reality, of capital and debt and virtual webspace post 1980's.

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