Member-only story
What Happened to the Tech Industry?
A look into events that created a challenging environment
How did we get here?
In the 1990’s and early 2000s the tech industry was booming. Software and IT jobs were all the rage, and demonstrating almost any proficiency in these fields would give an aspiring professional a very good chance of landing some kind of decent paying job with huge growth potential.
Fast-forward to 2024 and the landscape is quite different. We face a strange paradox of both an increase in unfilled tech jobs and an increase in unemployed individuals who can’t seem to find work in their field.
What happened to the industry to make it so difficult to get a job?
Specialization
In the early days, there were limited choices in programming languages and technologies available for developing applications and systems. Some knowledge in PHP, JavaScript, or C++ was enough to get in the door at many companies as stakeholders rushed to create and deliver solutions using whatever talent they could find. Requirements were often simpler (but not always as large systems did still exist back then) and there was less emphasis on specialized frameworks and methodologies.
