NOTE: working full time at a restaurant for $15/hour would be $31,200 a year.
This is a CONTRACT position, which means you have to pay the employer portion of taxes (an extra 7.5%), as well as no vacation days, health care, or any paid days off.
ALSO NOTE: Nowhere in this job description does it say this is an ENTRY LEVEL, JUNIOR, or INTERN level position. Note the phrases "proven experience", "strong expertise" and "proficiency".

Listings like this FORCE me to at least consider: Is it "over" for software development? Can you no longer make a living in this field, unless you live in the Third World? Have companies like this given up on having American employees?


Role Description
This is a contractor role for a Frontend Developer. The Frontend Developer will be responsible for designing and implementing efficient and responsive user interfaces for our web application. They will collaborate closely with back-end developers and designers to ensure seamless integration, optimize web performance, and maintain high-quality user experience. Additional responsibilities include troubleshooting, enhancing system performance, and staying updated on the latest frontend technologies and trends.

Qualifications

• Strong expertise in Front-End Development, including proficiency in modern frameworks and libraries (e.g., React, Angular, or Vue.js) and Responsive Web Design
• Basic understanding of Back-End Web Development concepts, and working with APIs
• Proven experience in Software Development and building scalable web applications
• Proficiency in Web Development tools, techniques, and version control systems (e.g., Git)
• Excellent problem-solving abilities and attention to detail
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment and communicate technical concepts clearly
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field is preferred

Compensation

• $50,000/year + stock options

I've never been confident in the future of computer jobs, and am surprised how many trads are programmers. 

I'm not.  In and of itself, it presents no moral dilemmas, and you either know how to do it, or you don't.  

Either of these are a good fit for someone who stands outside of the mentality of the larger society.

Listings like this FORCE me to at least consider: Is it "over" for software development? Can you no longer make a living in this field, unless you live in the Third World? Have companies like this given up on having American employees?

This was pretty much my takeaway in early 2024. Half my team of software engineers was told 6 months in advance they were being laid off in favor of contractors from Asia. I decided to switch to go back to school for electrical engineering.
It's definitely time for devs to start thinking about their backup plan. Based on population/industry trends, it's only going to get more and more economical to hire offshore compared to the US. I just hope that I'm not too late on switching streams. 

I'm investigating options for a career change ... though options are very limited for someone my age, and the types of things that would replace even 2/3 of my income are very difficult to get into, and there's no way they'd take a 57-year-old man into the program.

I'm actually considering something along the lines of EMT, since I'm actually very calm and composed in those types of situations ... have had to deal with a few in my life, where strangely enough I was not the least bit flustered by it.  But they don't make that much money.  Something along the lines of a medical technician, operating MRI systems or the like ... but those programs are full.  Now, more and more modern car mechanics could really benefit from IT skills, and since most cars are half computer now, and Ford has talked about a big shortage, and those jobs are difficult to offshore ... but again they'd be loath to invest time and money into training someone my age, and there's also a lot of physical labor involved, and I'm not sure that I would have the stamina to do it at my age.  When I have worked on cars, I'm usually sore for 2-3 days, but then it's possible I could get used to it.  Plus, you'd need to take 2-3 years to get trained up in school, and how do you support a family during that time?

Not really sure.  I think next steps will likely involve Great Reset and UBI.

I'm investigating options for a career change ... though options are very limited for someone my age, and the types of things that would replace even 2/3 of my income are very difficult to get into, and there's no way they'd take a 57-year-old man into the program.

I'm actually considering something along the lines of EMT, since I'm actually very calm and composed in those types of situations ... have had to deal with a few in my life, where strangely enough I was not the least bit flustered by it.  But they don't make that much money.  Something along the lines of a medical technician, operating MRI systems or the like ... but those programs are full.  Now, more and more modern car mechanics could really benefit from IT skills, and since most cars are half computer now, and Ford has talked about a big shortage, and those jobs are difficult to offshore ... but again they'd be loath to invest time and money into training someone my age, and there's also a lot of physical labor involved, and I'm not sure that I would have the stamina to do it at my age.  When I have worked on cars, I'm usually sore for 2-3 days, but then it's possible I could get used to it.  Plus, you'd need to take 2-3 years to get trained up in school, and how do you support a family during that time?

Not really sure.  I think next steps will likely involve Great Reset and UBI.

You get sore for 2-3 days, then only do that work once every 2-3 days as you get used to it. Your body will adapt to a great extent, you just need to keep the weight lifted relatively low at your age, and stay in a habit of doing whatever other stretches and exercises prevent work related pain/injury, and rest.heal when you need it.

You don't train in a school (pay to learn while earning nothing); you get trained on the job, even if you have to start out volunteering. Getting taught for free or little pay is better than paying to learn. Such a situation may give you flexibility to work for/get taught by a few different businesses, so that you learn a greater variety of ways of doing the job, and are more likely to find the better teacher.

Assuming you learn handyman skills (being able to fix/build just about any common thing), even if you don't get paid much, having the ability to fix things will save you and others money. The amount people get charged for some relatively simple car repair/maintenance these days is crazy, and most mechanics don't know how to fix what broke, they just replace the whole part, and even some unnecessary parts to hope the problem goes away (sometimes referred to as a parts cannon).

You can save yourself or a customer money or increase your profit margin by fixing a broken part, either by figuring it out yourself or by learning from a forum where someone shares their solution. I was told by a mechanic that I need a new turn signal switch or lever, so I just took it apart, and cleaned the switch contacts to fix it for 15min and $0. People have figured out how to replace the batteries in their overpriced tire pressure sensors, or to replace the motor in a sliding door actuator. I saved hundreds on an HVAC repair by using youtube and forums for some education on the unit, then doing the obvious which I should have started with but doubted it was the problem, and just replace 2 components on the circuit board that were corroded. The repair guy would have charged almost $1000 for diagnostic, parts, and repair of the whole control board when only $0.20 of parts needed replacing, and I'm no electronics expert.

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4365843080/

Just look at the knowledge and experience you need -- for a $40,000 a year job in software development!
That's just $19.23 per hour!

United States · 1 day ago · Over 100 applicants
Job Title: LAMP / Laravel Developer (WordPress / DevOps / UI/UX)
Location: 100% Remote
Department: Technology
Reports To: CTO, Dance Media
Salary: $40k/yr

About the Role
Dance Media—home to Dance Magazine, Pointe, Dance Teacher, Dance Spirit, and more—is seeking an experienced LAMP Stack Developer with strong WordPress and Laravel expertise to support and evolve our family of digital properties. You will help maintain and extend multiple high-traffic websites, contribute to backend systems built in Laravel, and assist in DevOps, UI, and UX improvements across the Dance Media network.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain, optimize, and enhance multiple WordPress sites for Dance Media brands.
• Develop and support backend systems and APIs built in Laravel.
• Implement custom themes, plugins, and integrations across platforms.
• Manage and automate DevOps workflows—CI/CD pipelines, environment management, and deployments.
• Collaborate with designers and content teams to deliver high-quality, responsive UI/UX.
• Ensure performance, security, and scalability across all applications.
• Contribute to modernization efforts, including API-driven and headless architecture.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5+ years of full-stack experience with the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache/Nginx, MySQL, PHP).
• Deep expertise in WordPress and Laravel development.
• Strong proficiency with HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and responsive front-end development.
• Hands-on experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps automation.
• Experience managing cloud hosting environments (AWS, WP Engine, or similar).
• Understanding of web performance, SEO, and security best practices.
• Strong communication skills and self-management in a remote team environment.

Yes, it's getting worse every day.  I get regular e-mail of job postings that match my background, and it seems as though every week or two the salary range being offered drops by about 10%.

So, that's how it pancakes down, though, where the toughest squeeze is at the very bottom.

Due to the overall job shortage, you have those who had formerly been classified as mid-level developers, with about 5-ish years of experience ... having to compete for the entry-level jobs, or, rather, the lowest level jobs, since it's not entry anymore.  What this means is that there are no more entry-level jobs left.  If you can get a developer with 5 years of experience for the same wage as a young man fresh out of college, you'll take the experienced developer every time.

Now, in the past, they might avoid doing that since they realize that developer will be unhappy, even disgruntled, for being underpaid ... and will leave at the first opportunity.  But they're becoming more and more confident that no such opportunities will be forthcoming anytime soon.

This same type of pressure hit engineers right before my younger brother graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree.  Bush Sr. had just announced some huge defense budget cuts due to the "Fall of the Iron Curtain", and evaporation of the Cold War.  Despite being at the top of his class, he found himself in the same boat, where nobody would even talk to him because there were plenty of engineers with 5 years of experience who were taking the entry-level-wage jobs.  He ended up sliding over to IT himself.

So, there's a slower descent in the higher tiers, but it's real nonetheless ... because even if, say, you take on more offshore "talent [sic]" or you start utilizing AI, or whatever ... you still need people who are able to keep the offshore people honest, give them exacting requirements, correct their (many) mistakes and bugs or, in the case of AI ... you have to know how to ask the questions, and how to spot errors, and hot to fix them.  So the higher-level types of skills, bordering on software architecture or lead developer, those will slide a little bit more slowly, since  you still need them around ... for now.  Give it maybe two or three generations, and we'll literally have business people simply dictate business requirements and AI will create the system for them.  "I need a system that does this and this and this ..." where all you need are non-technical business analyst types of skills.

Here's the progression I see ...

Next 1-3 years ... acceleration in layoffs among lower-level developers, the coding clerk types that can't think outside of being given exact requirements. with wages dropping most precipitiously in the lower tiers, with true entry-level positions for recent college grads becoming non-existent, and formerly mid-level developes scrambling for the few lowever-level jobs that remain

4 - 7 years out ... lead developers and architects start feeling the cuts since AI has advanced where it can develop, write, and even deploy software systems based on little more than business requirements.  Business Analysts with even a tiny bit of tech knowledge (where they basically know what a database is, what a web application is, etc.) will be all that's needed.  You might have some highly-skilled technical types keeping an eye on things, troubleshooting stuff when it doesn't work, etc.

At some point there might be a slight "dead cat bounce", where there might be a slight shortage induced due to the fact that fewer and fewer students will go into Computer Science due to the abysmal job prospects, and as some of the veterans begin to retire, that could induce a very short-lived shortage until AI can catch up and fill the gap.