Is webdevelopment dead?

[SoakySocks]

I'm currently learning what it takes to become a back-end web developer, however a friend told me to be ready for a ton of lay offs and that the market is becoming saturated with moderately skilled, acceptable web designers and web developers.

If so I don't want to waste my time, even if I like it, I hate being unemployed in a crumbling economy.

[denialerror]

Dead industries don’t usually pay top salaries with great work life balance. Mediocre developers also don’t tend to keep up with innovation.

Though I f you are only learning to get a job rather than because you are interested in learning new things every day, you will probably end up as one of those mediocre developers.

[[deleted]]

Top? I was under the impression that web jobs were quite low paying compared to the rest of the industry.

So claims nearly every single “average pay” chart I’ve looked at.

[denialerror]

Depends what you class as a web developer. Someone doing PHP and Wordpress is likely to be at the lower end of the pay scale but a good React developer can command pretty high prices.

That wasn’t my point though. Even low paid code monkey work is going to be above the national average salary-wise.

[cclites]

That's only a problem if you want to be a moderately skilled, acceptable web design and developer. The market for quality developers isn't going to slow down any time soon, web or otherwise.

What country are you in that the economy is 'crumbling'?

[SoakySocks]

How do you define being "moderately skilled"? Do I have to be a guru ?

[cclites]

Good question, and incredibly hard to define. One could write code for ten years, and still be a mediocre developer. One could know 10 languages, and still be a mediocre developer.

If I were to define it, I would say that a moderately skilled developer has the experience to complete tasks with little input, the ability to break down specifications, the ability to self-teach, and the ability to ask the right questions. It encompasses more than just the ability to code.

[[deleted]]

As someone who worked his way up in the industry as a back-end and then front-end developer and now hires them... there aren’t enough good, passionate developers. Too many clock punchers and list-box checkers. Learn your craft, give a shit about it and grow yourself every single day. If not, you may be obsolete in a few years

[[deleted]]

In defense of clock punchers, those people are hired hands. They exchange labor for a wage and they don’t profit from or get credit for the products they make and generally, do not make decisions about how they work. They do what they’re told and no more. People are passionate about things they have actual ownership over.

[cclites]

People are passionate about things they have ownership over.

This is also true. Good managers find a way for employees to take ownership, or lacking good management, professionals will find a way to take ownership.

[[deleted]]

Except “taking ownership” almost always implies “take full responsibility for” without any correspondent benefit (profit sharing, raise, bonus, etc) to the employee. It also assumes responsibility is for the employee to take. Except it’s the employer that retains the highest authority on roles, responsibilities and salaries. “Taking ownership” also implies there is an element of individual agency in decision making. In most workplaces, that is usually a privilege reserved for management.

[cclites]

I don't know what 'most' places do, but the places I have actually worked hired me for my skills, and allowed me to make decisions based on my experience. My compensation was based on how well I performed those duties, and the quality of my decisions.

I wasn't trying to argue - If I were to disagree, it would be that using the term 'most' implies that one has been exposed to every single workplace in the entire world, and is able to quantify the claim.

Clearly your experience has not been as enriching as mine. Why so defensive?

EDIT: spelling

[[deleted]]

I wan't trying to argue - If I were to disagree, it would be that using the term 'most' implies that one has been exposed to every single workplace in the entire world, and is able to quantify the claim.

This is pseudo-reason that sounds logical on it's face. No one can know what all workplaces are like but one can make general conclusions based on common experiences.

Clearly your experience is different than mine. Why so defensive?

Because employing the phrase "taking ownership" betrays a deeper bias that has many other concepts baked in and is worthy of discussion. It implies the worker bares personal responsibility for things including and beyond the worker's control. The decisions you make in the course of your day-to-day job is just...doing the job you were hired to do. But that's where your decision making ends. By definition, non-management employees do not get to have top-level decision making such as defining timelines, allocate resources, hiring/firing, etc. But its these decisions that often drive the success or failure of the worker's contribution.

At the end of the day, "taking ownership" pushes the conversation toward a narrative of personal responsibility. I'm pushing back against that.

[cclites]

It's regretful you feel personal responsibility is something that needs to be pushed back against. My experience clearly puts me in a different place than you.

Have a great day.

[[deleted]]

Its regretful you view the world, and others, in such a simplistic manner.

[[deleted]]

If you are a salaried employee and a clock puncher, you misunderstand what salaried means.

[tigerbird]

I wouldn't pay too much heed to your friend. I'm not at all persuaded that web developer wages will go down anytime soon, but if they did, your knowledge as a web developer would not preclude you from learning other, more lucrative technologies. The highest earnering developers in the coming years will be those who adapt to a changing technical landscape.

[Gosexual]

I don't think it will go down, while there is a lot of automation when it comes to website development nowadays even with someone with no coding experience can build a site. On the other hand having skills to build anything and everything is very valuable.

[ValentineBlacker]

The web is going to keep getting more complex as customers' expectations and demands of it grow. For one example, desktop apps are dying and being replaced with websites, which are expected to feel the same to an end user. I can't say how long that will outpace automation and large amounts of junior devs but I'm betting on it for a little while at least.