Disputes around the IT industry do not subside - some argue that it is on the verge of collapse, others talk about temporary difficulties. But when you look at the cuts, slowing investment and falling sales, it's clear that the situation is far from ideal.
I am sure that the industry is going through not just a crisis, but a transformational crisis.
Immediately after the end of the pandemic, companies that had been out of work began to hire furiously. But after a while, it turned out that they hired too much, now they need to fire. But this is the most boring and banal component of the crisis.
The covid pandemic has become the first herald of transformation. She made it clear that it is possible to hire remote workers around the world. Now you don't need to look for an American team lead for six months for $200 per hour, instead you can hire someone no worse, but several times cheaper. Or you can fire your own employees and take them back, but already on a freelance basis – no sick leave, quarterly bonuses and deductions to the pension fund.
The rise of artificial intelligence as a means of solving applied problems, it hurt a number of professions, according to forecasts, this will eventually bring about 300 million layoffs and + 7% to world GDP.
Within the IT world, specific industry problems have also been superimposed on universal human problems.
The fact is that by today, the vast majority of business functions that can be digitalized and automated have already been implemented in finished products. As a result, custom development — outsourcing — began to decline more and more: the average check is getting lower, negotiations are longer and more complicated, and there are fewer and fewer new projects.
Outsourcing companies that have not had time to release their own products or at least develop more ready-made solutions are waiting for hard times, and many will be closed.
But the worst thing is outstaffing, an even simpler business model based on the temporary leasing of its own employees. This is not surprising: when you can hire people in any backwater for a couple of bowls of rice, there is absolutely no need to pay a pad that offers the same thing, but several times more expensive.
In general, you should not expect that in a couple of months everything will go back: alas, the world of IT will never be the same again.
And for programmers who are used to increased demand and constant attention from recruiters, I would advise them to develop communication and self-presentation skills. All of us will now have to become a little businessman, even if we don't want to do it at all.
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