👀 Have you ever thought of leaving Tech? Why? Feel free to share more in the comments!

Honestly yes, I would love to not be sitting on the computer all day. Ideally, I would want to own a small business that allows me to stand up, walk around, and talk to customers constantly. Not to mention, I’d be the owner of my own time.

Yes everyday. I’m very good at what I do but the environment sucks and pay is getting worse. No longer happy even though I love tech.

Yes because tech employers have started to devalue tech workers, expect long hours as the norm, and push for RTO.

Lately it feels like tech workers are not valued as much anymore in that we're seen as disposable monkeys that are easily replaced.

We're now also expected to work long hours as the norm with no regard for work life balance. So many positions now expect dev ops to be a standard practice for developers when it used to be a dedicated role all its own.

The push for RTO when our jobs can be done remotely also seems like an effort to squeeze and exert control over workers. Especially when many offices have adopted open office floor plans which squeeze us together as tightly as possible like a zoo. Combined with the fact most meetings still occur virtually even in office, it makes it hard to concentrate because there's always someone talking loudly for their meeting. There's no incentive or perks to coming into the office either, and it wrecks work life balance even more because of the commute time it adds, which is never compensated or accounted for.

All these things together doesn't make for a great time.

Yep. Why? Because of the pervasive attitude that "engineers work overtime for free. It's just part of the job. It's just part of being a professional. "

Total BS and just another way companies screw us. 40 hours is the norm and if extra time is required, it should be made up later on. If I work 60 hrs this week, I expect 20 hours back in the near future.

I have also found that if you push back on this and leave sharply at 40 hours, people will usually respect your boundaries. Sometimes we're our own worst enemy. But not always, I have left companies over this too.

Reading through these comments there are a lot of decent "tips". A little hard to follow most of those because they are from people who have been working in tech for the last 15-30 years. The past 2 years of the tech industry have been difficult for most people just starting out and people with less than 7-10 years of experience.

The only reason I would leave is because I still can't find a job. 1 interview every two-three months is too slow and I have been networking like crazy. I'm about 1 step away from just driving to every company that has any kind of software position within a 20 mile radius and demand a position outright. lol But I digress...

To sum up my point, the comments of people who will stay is everyone with a job though they think about leaving sometimes if the workload, culture, and/or pay are inadequate. Still, most people with a tech job are gonna keep that job. Makes sense though since losing your tech job right now without enough experience might just leave you with the option to find another job in another field to make ends meet. Me. haha

Every day. The incessant desire of organisations to push and squeeze more out of every employee, talk a good game on culture but treat you like a minion. Tech pays well and can be challenging but ultimately it will gradually wear you down

I was abandoned by Tech. It seems ageism, which is illegal, determines qualification. I keep abreast of the latest tech updates and love learning more. However, after my move from Memphis to Knoxville, it's been hard to get a position. I'm currently working as a security officer until something comes along. If I could move out of Tech, I would, but companies do not see that the non-tech skills that I've developed are transferable.

I love my field because there is always something new. Keeps me engaged as long as there is work.

There was a point in my career when I thought about it a lot. My career wasn't where I wanted it to be and so I explored careers outside of tech. Ultimately, I did not fit into other work cultures. So, I stayed with tech even though a friend and coworker told my boss I was taking night classes in another field and caused me to lose my job…. But I stayed the course. At this point, my career is growing. I've grown past the struggles and while my career within tech is free to evolve, I will probably stay with it unless I win the lottery.

Yeah. A couple of times it pop up in my head to leave tech and probably focus on something like farming, teaching, etc. But I don't have the resources yet to pursue this things and to be honest, working in tech pays well.

SR Systems engineer

I have permanently left tech sense I retired. The only tech I do though is upgrading my PC and playing game.

Yes. To me, the best part of being a Project Manager is working with a team to deliver a product. I don't have any particular love for software development. It just happens to be where the jobs are.

Yes, I have thought about it for over a decade. I don’t mind coding, but I desire to do something more meaningful with my life such as teaching at a school, working for an organization that teaches STEM programs, etc. I have wanted to break out but tech pays the bills, so I continue to stay. I hope once all my financial goals are met, I can make the change.

Also, as I am nearing my 40‘s, I am having less and less desire to code. And I cannot compare to the 20‘s anymore In terms of coding output.

After 24 years of working in IT, every single job I have had, was laid off from. This time, I have been laid off again since August 2024, I have put in hundreds of applications and here we are January 2025 and have not even been contacted by anyone for an interview. Also, there were more jobs listed on the sites back in April, May and June of 2024 and now there are far an few between, and if you do not even have the experience for the positions, Also, most of the jobs are contract positions not permanent. I spent thousands of dollars to go to college for nothing. Therefore, I am giving up with the IT field, and going into the medical field sponsored by the American Job Center.

Yes, I do. Tech is ever changing and the interviews to switch jobs have gotten ridiculously difficult.

Whenever imposter syndrome creeps in..

Every single day for the past 5 years or so (been doing it 3 decades). Still really enjoy the work itself, designing, coding, etc.. but have an extremely low tolerance for people with inflated egos who think they are the gods gift to tech, people who are out to always benefit themselves first, people who always displace blame instead of being accountable, people who are hot-heads over stupid shit, incompetent managers and C-levels who instead of learning, keep repeating the same mistakes thinking the issue lies anywhere else but with them..

That said, there are a lot of people with whom I really enjoy working, have made lifelong friends, etc… but it’s too easy for the above toxic personality traits to ruin the vibe of a team (just takes one person), and generally, companies are too slow to react, even with rampant feedback, if they bother in the first place.

I tolerate the above because the pay is so good.. but yeah.. every single day.

Getting a degree in music and have started playing with an orchestra last year, aiming for a future tech retirement in music. It would be insane to do essentially the same thing for 40 years and not get an itch to try something new. I have dabbled in art before, as a hobby to balance my work, have considered seriously getting a law degree midway in my career and chickened out last minute, and switched gears at work instead, focusing on different roles within the same industry. I went back to music during the COVID times. The way I look at it, by the time I'm ready to retire from tech, I'll have a solid foundation, with a network of musicians to play with and the ability to do gigs, record and continue to play with a good orchestra. I think *everybody* should consider a hobby or a career switch. Keeps the brain in shape!

God yes. But those golden handcuffs are hard to put down. I just keep signing up for the Idiocracy. Someone please stop me.

I love field teck ! Working with a company that works for you is the most beneficial aspect! I was last left with a company that left me high n dry. To do sales and customer relations. However I didn't mind. It does leave you in a compromising place. If everything isn't on the same page????

I tried retiring but after 6 months I've returned to the industry, not many other activities are that deeply satisfying for me as programming (and open-source + hobby projects were not motivating enough).

No fucking way.
AI is a hoax that big corporations use as an excuse to fire western tech woorkers and hire cheap foreign labour or outsource the work to foreign countries.
However the truth is that by not giving juniors a chance, they artificially tried to deflate the value of tech work and this will naturally result in an explosion of sallaries about 5 years down the line. The AI narrative surpressed junior opportunities for about 3 years and this period was the perfect time to get into tech, because 2 more years it will be obvious that it's not going to replace tech workers. And then the experience you have will be worth gold.