Software engineer laid off twice in a year, questions future in the field

A software engineer's account of losing his job twice in one year is going viral on Reddit, as artificial intelligence continues to unsettle jobs in the IT sector.

The man, in the final year of his twenties, shared his ordeal in a post titled "Lost my job again today. Second time in a year. I'm now thinking about my future." He was let go from his first company at the end of last year and spent several months job hunting before landing a well-paying position after six months. He believed things would finally be fine, but was laid off again just two and a half months into the new job, along with several other employees.

The company told him there was nothing wrong with his work; the layoff was due to cost-cutting and a restructuring of the team. He wrote that losing his job through no fault of his own, twice over, left him completely shaken and his confidence broken. He now wonders if there is any future left in software engineering.

He said he does not come from a wealthy family and cannot afford to sit at home for a month or experiment with different careers. He had to leave his hometown for work to make ends meet and build a career, and now wonders if he will have to keep walking the same road after losing his job again.

He said the impact of AI is being felt very closely. AI has not replaced every developer, he wrote, but companies are now focused only on AI, productivity and cutting costs, adding to the stress of people already struggling to hold on to their jobs. He said he did not want sympathy, only advice, and asked others who had gone through similar experiences to tell him what to do next.

Many commented sharing their own experiences. One person said he had been laid off three times in six years, and was well compensated in two of those instances, adding that layoffs have become very common now. Another suggested he consider a government job given his age, noting that many people are turning to freelancing because the market is currently poor. A third advised him not to base his career decisions on the calls of two companies, and to update his resume and start job hunting again. One person simply wrote that he had done this before and would do it again, wishing him luck.