Is the Job Market Dying?

Overall state of the tech job market

• Many describe the market as “shitty but not dead” – worse than 2009/2020, not quite dot‑com nuclear winter, roughly comparable to 2008.
• Strong sense of contraction and “musical chairs”: fewer openings, especially speculative/ZIRP-era roles; far more applicants per role.
• Disagreement on who is hit hardest: some say seniors with strong skills are still fine; others say even very senior people are struggling for a year+.
• Juniors and new grads are widely seen as in the worst position.

Reduced churn and changing company behavior

• Several note much lower employee movement. Less churn means more efficiency per engineer and fewer openings.
• Hiring now needs to justify profitability, not just growth; higher rates and capital costs make headcount harder to approve.
• Some companies stop public postings, hiring mostly via referrals, direct outreach, or their careers page, aiming for “good enough” rather than “the best.”

Application volume, filters, and AI

• Applying to hundreds or thousands of roles is common; some report ~100:10:1 application‑to‑offer ratios over decades.
• This volume pushes companies toward crude filters (ATS keywords, simple heuristics, possibly AI) that randomly exclude many qualified people.
• Debate: some argue mass‑applying is rational in this environment; others say repeated rejection signals a need to fix resumes/strategy.

Dehumanizing hiring practices

• Widespread dislike of one‑way recorded video interviews and AI‑scored interviews; described as dystopian and dehumanizing.
• Complaints about gimmicky “show your personality” videos and humiliating icebreakers.
• Concern that hiring that dehumanizes candidates signals bad work cultures.

Role‑specific dynamics (esp. Data Science)

• Many view “data scientist” as overhired during the boom; teams are shrinking and skewing toward engineers and analysts.
• Data science compared to “HTML programmer” in the dot‑com era: commoditized, flooded, and often low quality, making hiring riskier.
• Advice from some: pivot to business analyst or other roles with clearer business value.

Coping strategies and alternatives

• Emphasis on networks and referrals, but also recognition that networking isn’t equally effective for everyone.
• Suggested fallbacks: government/defense or state IT, local non‑FAANG companies, contracting, non‑tech jobs while staying “in the game,” or entrepreneurship/side projects.
• Ongoing debate about “hustle” and working extra hours: some see it as necessary risk‑reward; others see exploitation and burnout.