r/Regrets • u/Estimate4655 • 9h ago

I regret relying on software engineering for money.

i regret joining software engineering for the money tbh. don’t get me wrong i still enjoy building cool projects on my own and that part still feels good, but when it comes to the actual job side everything fell apart. my company started laying people off and i was one of them, then on upwork i couldn’t even land a decent deal, and now i’m still applying everywhere but not getting any offers. and now ai can still build cool stuff too so even that feels less special somehow. idk it just feels like i chased the money and ended up with nothing stable, and that hits different when you realize the passion part is the only thing left that still makes sense.

for reference, i am a new grad.

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u/FlakyUnderstanding99 8h ago

What does software engineering entail? Can u describe it in one sentence or less? its like designing comfortable pajamas, right?

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u/Ok_News_7510 8h ago

I feel you . I designed residential roof trusses and dedicated almost a decade to a career path I felt was safe . I’ve been outsourced and I’m less than a year under my belt away from senior level tenure . Since I’m the low man on the senior todem , I have been overlooked as companies only want to transcribe the knowledge for their Ai models/agents from the top talent ( a huge retirement exodus and not enough feet to fill the retirement shoes is what I suspect the sudden push to develop Ai to fill the gap) . I am a dad to 3 and my wife is the breadwinner but also works in tech so who knows what’s going to happen when it takes her job ? My field is niche and all cross compatibility options are all thinning due to Ai .. so I’m at a loss . My mortgage is payable within paths in my chosen career choice but I can’t make it by on min wage as I spend another decade working my way up a ladder learning something new . Something has to give and we will need to consider a universal live-able stipend to reel back some of this economic damage being caused ? Maybe these companies need to pay a huge tax for using Ai to replace workers ? I’m not sure of the answer, but all I know is I’m ready to sell it all and go back to living like the pioneers and raise my family legacy with the foundation that the American dream has been dead and break free from the machine !

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u/Estimate4655 7h ago

That's understandable man.

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u/Severe-Reading-6381 7h ago

I’m in computer science as well, I’m expected to graduate in a couple semesters but I plan to change my path. I’m just not getting the career satisfaction I need, and I realize I’m very bad at coding and problem solving. I went in for the money too but idk what I’ll get myself into.

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u/Tall-Phase-8047 6h ago

Everybody wanted to study computer science for the money, it was evident competition was going to increase, even if AI wasn’t a factor (which it is atm).