Ask HN: Laid-off devs who left tech?
7 phendrenad2 2 6/26/2025, 7:02:22 AM
It's been almost 3 years since the post-covid tech layoffs began. And the tech job market has steadily gotten worse since then. So now is a good time to check in on the state of out-of-work devs. Specifically, if you have left tech as your main job, what do you do now? And do you work on personal projects or a tech-related side hustle? Are you looking to jump back into tech when things improve, or have you found something better?
The stories I hear is they're taking on contracting work to survive, risking it all as an indie, or going into manufacturing (typically as quality assurance managers.) That last one seems surprising, but it's more common than you'd think.
Source: I run a community full of gamedevs.
[0] https://www.gamesindustry.biz/topics/layoffs
I wouldn't be surprised if a large portion of devs have gone hard nationalist after Biden's tech layoffs. (Zirp ending + S174 left to wither during Biden)