Layoffs may not be mounting, but it’s getting harder to find a job in a labor market where hiring is “anemic” as tariff-driven economic uncertainty has put a chill on some employers.
I’m going to become homeless before I get an interview. I have ten years experience. I’m trying to keep my head held high and do self training. Even posting my Udemy certs on LinkedIn (I know they’re worth less than toilet paper).
I am. The company I work for was recently bought. I’d been there 8 years so I got a couple of months they’re still keeping me on.
But the guy that had 1 idea 30+ years ago got $30,000,000 for all the risk he assumed in hiring other devs with money he already had to build his idea.
I was putting in about a dozen per day on LinkedIn and was getting nowhere. Then after a few weeks there weren’t a dozen places left to apply at. So now I do that about twice a week and look up posts created in a week’s time.
My main skills over the last 10 years have been HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the React framework. I just got done cramming Python so I can learn Flask.
Dice and Indeed have traditionally only gotten me third party recruiters and that never ends well or is profitable.
Pretty sure trade unions don’t require everyone to work at the same shop. I paid union dues when I worked doing screen printing in a shop that was me, another dude, and the owner who did all the design. That was the entire business and we were still part of the local painters trade union.
I know it sucks to take on something that either seems beneath you or will be contributing to preventing you from getting a job in your field but have you considered things like call center work? It absolutely sucks but it’s work and they accept almost anybody. Bonus is a lot of call center jobs are remote.
Another option I am nervous to suggest but has been helpful to me is gig work through something like DataAnnotation or Babel? They are both companies that work in the domain of training existing AIs to be smarter and give better answers. The pay isn’t top tier but its pretty okay for people with a background in programming (I think the programming work makes between $30 and $40 an hour, not great but not awful). I feel gross contributing to killing the jobs I could otherwise have but I try to remind myself that AI is still overrated for what it can actually do and that AI does have some beneficial aspects which are weighed down by a corporate class who only want to use it as a way to cut human workers out of the picture. I can also attest to these actually being real and having gotten paid for the work I did.
dataannotation.tech
babel.audio
I hope this at least helps you get some meager income to stay off the streets my friend. I know they aren’t the best options but sometimes that is the nature of life. If nothing else it gives you a foothold to get better/more valuable certifications.
Edit: also for anyone looking for work in Washington state try Ecology Litter Corps through the Washington Department of Ecology. Pays decent and you help make the state look nice by picking up trash.
I could be wrong about the pay, of course, I don’t have enough programming knowledge to apply for that. Mercor seems like another good option though for people looking for something like that. Thanks for including the suggestion for others here! I have added it to my original comment.
Web Development and UI/UX Design. In practice a React Developer that used Figma for planning. Basically I would draw the site, then build all the visual elements, implement all the behaviors, and then hook it up to a backend built by someone else. I’m cramming Udemy courses to become a Full Stack Web Developer.
I’m going to become homeless before I get an interview. I have ten years experience. I’m trying to keep my head held high and do self training. Even posting my Udemy certs on LinkedIn (I know they’re worth less than toilet paper).
No one cares.
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I am. The company I work for was recently bought. I’d been there 8 years so I got a couple of months they’re still keeping me on.
But the guy that had 1 idea 30+ years ago got $30,000,000 for all the risk he assumed in hiring other devs with money he already had to build his idea.
I don’t have any other options that don’t involve unskilled labor. I’m also not a young man anymore.
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I was putting in about a dozen per day on LinkedIn and was getting nowhere. Then after a few weeks there weren’t a dozen places left to apply at. So now I do that about twice a week and look up posts created in a week’s time.
My main skills over the last 10 years have been HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the React framework. I just got done cramming Python so I can learn Flask.
Dice and Indeed have traditionally only gotten me third party recruiters and that never ends well or is profitable.
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I’m actually aiming for AWS certs so hopefully my stack will be applicable.
If you’re a developer and finally have a job you need to work on pushing what the industry has always needed. Start pushing to start a union.
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Pretty sure trade unions don’t require everyone to work at the same shop. I paid union dues when I worked doing screen printing in a shop that was me, another dude, and the owner who did all the design. That was the entire business and we were still part of the local painters trade union.
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The anti-union propaganda is so deeply ingrained in you that you didn’t even pause when you typed they out.
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20 years experience. 58 years old laid off by a thinly veiled pac masquerading as a no. Profit
Can’t even get a damn interview. It’s been two years. I’ve quit looking for work and just started teaching guitar.
I will never make good money again.
Lucky for me I can’t play guitar either. The only passion I got is Aztec history and I’m not qualified to teach anyone.
What technologies did you work with?
I know it sucks to take on something that either seems beneath you or will be contributing to preventing you from getting a job in your field but have you considered things like call center work? It absolutely sucks but it’s work and they accept almost anybody. Bonus is a lot of call center jobs are remote.
Another option I am nervous to suggest but has been helpful to me is gig work through something like DataAnnotation or Babel? They are both companies that work in the domain of training existing AIs to be smarter and give better answers. The pay isn’t top tier but its pretty okay for people with a background in programming (I think the programming work makes between $30 and $40 an hour, not great but not awful). I feel gross contributing to killing the jobs I could otherwise have but I try to remind myself that AI is still overrated for what it can actually do and that AI does have some beneficial aspects which are weighed down by a corporate class who only want to use it as a way to cut human workers out of the picture. I can also attest to these actually being real and having gotten paid for the work I did.
dataannotation.tech
babel.audio
I hope this at least helps you get some meager income to stay off the streets my friend. I know they aren’t the best options but sometimes that is the nature of life. If nothing else it gives you a foothold to get better/more valuable certifications.
Edit: also for anyone looking for work in Washington state try Ecology Litter Corps through the Washington Department of Ecology. Pays decent and you help make the state look nice by picking up trash.
https://ecology.wa.gov/waste-toxics/solid-waste-litter/litter/ecology-youth-corps
EDIT II: @[email protected] suggests Mercor and says they have better rates than DataAnnotation: https://mercor.com/
I’ve been working for Mercor for the past 3 months. I think their rates are far better than what you mentioned.
I could be wrong about the pay, of course, I don’t have enough programming knowledge to apply for that. Mercor seems like another good option though for people looking for something like that. Thanks for including the suggestion for others here! I have added it to my original comment.
https://mercor.com/
If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your field?
Web Development and UI/UX Design. In practice a React Developer that used Figma for planning. Basically I would draw the site, then build all the visual elements, implement all the behaviors, and then hook it up to a backend built by someone else. I’m cramming Udemy courses to become a Full Stack Web Developer.