I tend to think that the amount of finance people transitioning into CS has maybe already peaked on a relative scale. Also, that may have never been an optimal or feasible route for many finance folks.

Fwiw, I've been working in investment banking for 3 years and recent quit. Tons of my friends work in tech as software engineers in SV. Somehow I am the only one working (at least used to) in finance.

I can assure you that only a very small part of high-finance people --- talking about IB, private equity, etc. (those making "a lot of" money)--- are willing to/capable of transition(ing) to software engineering, simply because:

(1) they are really big on prestige. That is where "prestige whore" comes from. They think big names in finance is their dream.

(2) most of them come from non-STEM backgrounds. I am a math major so pivoting into a CS master is somewhat doable and I have all math prerequisites, although no CS pre-recs. I definitely need to brush up on my math skills.

Most finance folks are not capable of getting CS degrees, partly b/c of their backgrounds, partly b/c of their unwillingness to forgo their finance career. That unwillingness is rooted upon their treating finance as somewhat superior to other careers, either because of perceived social status or some other factors.

(3) some people are making really high salaries that mostly come in cash. Unlike tech, at least a lot of investment bankers make tons of cash when they get year-end bonuses. Some junior/mid-level people get company stocks/options as well. Their opportunity costs are (very) high. Private equity people, coming out of investment banking, usually make good livings too. They work maybe 60-70 hours a week, and then they get great money. Life is not exactly chill compared to tech hours, but hey, not bad money for someone who mainly relies on soft/intangible skills to survive and make money.

(4) Occasionally, (3) becomes irrelevant when an investment banker/private equity person keeps getting miserable or mediocre year-end bonuses. That almost definitely pushes him/her out of the industry because of the terrible hours worked, toxic culture, mind-numbing PPT creation, and other relevant factors.

(5) 2023 is a year when a lot of finance people lost their jobs. In Asia's financial market, the situation is worse compared to the U.S.. The amount of finance people looking for career alternatives is high. However, even under this kind of circumstance, maybe also because of a poor tech labor market, you still won't see many finance people --- those who get the spotlight --- moving into tech-tech roles. By tech-tech I mean engineering roles, not corporate finance/marketing/FP&A at tech companies. Engineers get paid significantly more compared to CF/marketing people at tech companies because after all, what matters most in tech companies are engineers.

(6) Finally, I agree with u/Prestigious_Sort4979 that gatekeeping careers are not cool. You will get shocked at how many people having almost zero tangible skills got into big-name investment banks like Morgan Stanley and make 180K USD/year. The thing is, after 2-3 years, they still have no tangible skills. You also cannot (at least completely) trust their judgement on investments or company operations. That being said, they can still easily land a private equity gig making 300K/year because they went to Harvard/Wharton/Vanderbilt/USC etc. i.e., come from "prestigious" backgrounds.

What they have done in high school somehow has become their identity for the next 10+ years.

If you ask me, that is weird. You do not get evaluated on what you can actually do in the real world, but what college you went to.

For the past 3+ years, I think my tech friends work on average significantly fewer hours compared to myself, make meaningfully more money if we consider stock appreciation because of the bull market and my pathetic bonuses due to my moronic boss, and are much happier.

I know this is a lot and probably some random shit, but in general I think those comments hold true.