4 Trillion Ways Things Aren’t Right
Nvidia just became the world’s first $4 trillion company. That’s a good deal of dimes, and it’s still not enough. It will never be enough.
That’s something you need to worry about, because no matter how much your company makes, your raise and bonus will be non-existent.
Because software developers are coal being thrown on the fire, and their pay and conditions are suffering as time goes by.
It’s Not All About You
Shares jumped as Wall Street threw yet another ticker-tape parade for the company, fueling the AI revolution. Apparently, “chips are the new gold and oil”, which is nice.
Yet for those actually working in tech companies, it feels like we are being used to create “shareholder value” with our blood, sweat (and tears) exchanged for a CEO’s bonus.
So it won’t, perhaps, be surprising that companies are laying off staff when they are doing amazingly in terms of profit and success.
Oh, Dear Microsoft
As Nvidia reached for the stars, Microsoft have been performing well too.
The giant who is “responsibly integrating AI” have decided that they need to redirect all their resources to AI, and they won’t be able to continue to get people to work on their profitable lines at the same time. Because apparently, “responsibly integrating” means replacing developers. There was a time when getting a job at Big Tech felt like winning the career lottery. Now, it’s more like getting a scratch card that politely tells you to try again.
As developers are being reduced to second-class citizens in the companies, they helped to build the question has to be asked. When everybody notices that AI isn’t the solution to every problem, what are companies going to do?
A Move Away from Sanity
I’ve seen firsthand how projects are gutted because they “can’t show revenue this quarter”. I worked on a feature that would deliver an enhanced customer experience, and even better, would generate money for my company. It might take two quarters to show that growth, so it was cut. Won’t somebody please think of the shareholders?
But don’t worry, Nvidia is worth $4 trillion, so it’s all good. Hah. We know that the tech industry doesn’t care about developers. It’s too busy worshipping its new AI deities and the stock tickers they inspire. AI is wonderful, but it doesn’t make for a fair competition against people who need to be paid, have health insurance and like to *gasp* see their families.
It might already be too late. Training budgets are a thing for yesterday. Junior roles have vanished and your code review has been performed by an AI model. If you dare to challenge the trend, you risk being labeled a “poor team fit” or “slow”.
Short-term gain at the expense of long-term sustainability has never made sense.
What Can Be Done?
No matter how much money is made, companies claim they can’t afford to improve working conditions somehow manage to fund massive share buybacks. Short-termism at its finest. Lay off skilled developers, outsource half the team, and then wonder why your next launch fails. Spoiler alert: it’s not because you didn’t use a new splashy Architecture or listen to the most exciting new podcast.
Conclusion
You can’t AI your way out of a bad culture.
You can’t innovate when everyone’s terrified, they’re next.
But hey, as long as the stock is up…who cares?
If we lay off all middle-class workers and use AI instead, who exactly is going to use the goods and services that we produce