How AI and cheap money reshaped the software engineering job market

The article analyzes how the software engineering labor market is being fundamentally repriced. The author, who started their career in the late 2010s, observes that generalist software engineers were a product of cheap money and abundant startup funding. As AI compresses implementation costs, the market is collapsing the premium for generalists while raising the value of deep expertise. The piece offers perspective for engineers confused about where the industry is headed and how to navigate the changing landscape.