Software engineering, once a stable and high-paying profession, is being reshaped by artificial intelligence. Engineers are adapting by honing fundamental skills, learning to evaluate AI-generated code, and organizing for collective action, according to interviews with over a dozen professionals.
AI Disrupts a Booming Profession
In 2022, software engineering was one of the largest and best-paying professions in the US, with 1.5 million practitioners earning twice the national median salary, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, since ChatGPT's release in 2022, over 600,000 US tech workers have lost their jobs, per Layoff.fyi. The unemployment rate for computer science graduates rose to 7% in 2024, up from 6.1% in 2023, and underemployment exceeded 19%, data from the New York Fed shows. US tech job postings on Indeed dropped 36% from 2020 to 2025.
Engineers Double Down on Fundamentals
Matt, a software engineer who asked to remain anonymous to protect his employment, now spends his four-hour train commute coding a browser-based video game by hand. "I am actively trying to keep my axe sharp," he said. His job has shifted from coding to reviewing AI-generated code, and after a layoff last summer, his boss urged him to use AI more. "I am trying not to leverage AI where I can," he added.
George Dover, a six-year software engineer in Portland, Oregon, was laid off from Intuit Mailchimp in late 2024. He became a substitute kindergarten teacher while searching for new roles. To adapt, he used AI to generate code and then evaluated it for errors and bugs. "The quality has to be rigorously tested," he said. After 400 applications and several interviews, he landed a software engineering job oriented toward AI.
Experts Weigh In on the Shift
Bouke Klein Teeselink, assistant professor of economics at King's College London, said: "It's hard to say what exactly the profession will look like in two years, but it's clear that the skill of writing code is over." Ethan Mollick, associate professor at Wharton, noted that the focus is now on defining problems and directing AI tools effectively. "It shifts the skills around, so suddenly that's where the value is," he said.
Shriram Krishnamurthi, professor of computer science at Brown University, said the growing need for code reviews will weed out some professionals. "Some software engineers trained well for this, and many did not," he said. Harvard's David Malan added that human engineers will remain needed due to AI's high costs, predicting a "healthier balance of software engineers being supported by AI."
From Coding Push to Fading Buzz
In 2013, President Obama launched a $4 billion initiative to teach computer science, and coding bootcamps exploded. Sam, a Los Angeles software engineer who asked for anonymity, pivoted to the field a decade ago after dropping out of a music degree. He now fears a layoff could end his career. "I'm thinking as I sit in my office, 'What if I opened a food truck? What if I got into forestry?'" he said. Enrollment in computer science programs at four-year universities fell 8.1% in the 2025-2026 school year, per the National Student Clearinghouse.
Tech Workers Organize
Kaitlin Cort quit her software engineering role and started What We Will, a resource center for tech workers affected by AI disruption. "I can see that the pace at which AI was getting better was faster than the pace at which I was getting better," she said. The center helps workers navigate layoffs, negotiate severance, and organize unions. Cort receives at least 10 new applications daily, with many seeking unionization. "We just, as an industry, don't have a guild – we don't have regulations or standards that are really shared," she said.
