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The Scrimba Podcast

Tech Layoffs Are Still Happening, and ChatGPT Can Code: How To Stay Ahead of the Curve as a New Developer, With Lane Wagner

🎙 About the episode


Meet Lane Wagner 🇺🇸! Lane is an engineering manager and the founder of Boot.dev. In this episode, as an experienced leader and educator, Lane talks about the recent changes in the job market and what they mean for aspiring and established developers alike. With tech layoffs and  AI that can write code, how do you even stand out?

Lane and Alex discuss the future of the industry as well as the ongoing recession and why it seems to hit tech companies especially hard. You'll learn what's the main difference between a developer and an AI that can write code and how to focus on it. They also talk about different types of companies, how different paths require different strategies to break into tech, and why it's okay to change companies as that's the quickest way to learn and figure out what works for you..

🔗 Connect with Lane

⏰ Timestamps

  • Why is the tech industry experiencing layoffs? (01:41)
  • Do tech layoffs affect junior developers in the long run? (03:20)
  • Why we are in a recession: the (tech) bubble created during the COVID pandemic burst (05:00)
  • Why have big companies mostly hired seniors in the past three years (08:31)
  • Should junior developers aim to work at smaller companies? (09:24)
  • Getting a job requires different strategies for different types of companies (12:29)
  • Changing jobs is okay! (16:06)
  • Community break! (18:23)
  • Get your first developer job ASAP because that's the quickest way to learn (20:36)
  • AI can write code. Should developers be worried for their livelihoods? (22:37)
  • The difference between ChatGPT and a junior developer (26:03)
  • If your biggest selling point as a junior is what technologies you use, you're doing something wrong (30:21)
  • What we can learn from the data available at layoffs.fyi (33:39)
  • We can't control most things happening in the job market, but we can focus on the things we can control: Lane's advice for junior developers (35:21)

🧰 Resources Mentioned

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