What will you do after tech?
26 points by iamalnewkirk
26 points by iamalnewkirk
I don’t know anyone who’s retired from the technology industry, do you? In my experience, it's very rare. It seems like most people burn out and then go and do something else.
I retired from my career in tech in 2021 into actual retirement (which I'm enjoying very much).
I continue to write a ton of software, contributing to open source projects I appreciate. I also cosplay as a system administrator for a home network that's more complicated and involved than many of the networks I worked on during my career. I still love tech and I'm appreciating my current relationship with tech that's entirely about the tech and never requires me to be on a zoom call or participate in agile project management.
I burned out on all the non-tech parts of a tech career, but not on the tech at all.
Teach me your ways. I'm hoping that I'll be able to retire in about ten years, when my youngest kid finishes college. I can't freaking wait.
My neighbor retired from tech this year, and is basically doing the same thing. He and his family do travel a lot and takes extended vacations, and the other day I had to pick up three very large UPSs off his doorstep for him while he was out of town.
I’m 61 and probably only have a few more years of all-day work left in me. When I retire I know I’ll keep coding for fun (creating open source stuff) and also keep playing music and writing fiction.
My dad, a hardware engineer, worked until he was 76, then was pushed into retirement and died within three years. I don’t think it was the idleness that killed him but I think it contributed.
Wow. Very real and eye-opening. Sorry for your loss. I definitely have (and probably continue to) underestimate the value/utility of purpose and "being needed".
Environmentalism. The are many opportunities to reduce human impact on climate and biodiversity.
I realise this is perhaps quite different from what you’re looking forward to doing in retirement, but: For you or anyone else reading this that wants to make an impact on climate while working in tech, there’s a big need for experienced engineers in the energy transition - electrifying transport, building heat and industry is something like 60% of human CO2eq emissions (vs all the worlds data centers around 1%), there’s an enormous amount of work needed to be done.
I spent first half of this week doing good old DDD “distilling the language” for a domain model meant to capture how several different countries move responsibility of electrical meters around; same work we always did, but in a space where, if we do it well, it helps get the world off coal, oil and gas faster.
We need more people that now the tech stacks and are willing to learn the energy industry!
I have flagged this as spam because the author habitually ignores the self-promotion guidelines.
That's true, but is this post self-promotion or spam?
Both. I encourage you to participate in this community in ways other than discussing your own writing. If you do that, I won't consider your posts as spam.
Wait but - isn’t this post exactly posting something that’s just broadly on topic? If you want them to participate, isn’t precisely this post what you’d want to encourage more of, rather than discourage as you’re doing here?
I might misunderstand your point, but it seems like you only consider the topicality of posts we share here and not the authorship.
We have established self-promotion guidelines that encourage community members to mostly share and discuss things written by others. I support those guidelines and I believe they make our community more interesting than when people only discuss themselves and their own work.
I agree! But I'm confused: You marked this post as self-promotion spam, but this post is not a link to anywhere, it's a community discussion? In what way is this post a violation of the guidelines?
Thank you for the clear explanation: I understand your point. I hadn't noticed the author's habit until now and I hope the author will participate in discussions other than those they initiated in future.
I agree that ideally I would have flagged the problem on a post including an external link, but I think it's also important to flag problems in the present instead of marking old discusssions as spam.
I am actively thinking on this, after a good run of 26 years so far. I expect to leave the tech industry but no where close to leaving some of the activities that industry pays me for (programming, running systems, etc).
My current expectation when I leave the industry will look like a combination of:
Solid list. Teaching high school seems sad to me. I don't know why. Maybe I'm thinking in "stereotypes".
I know several people who taught in high school and college. One friend was an English high school teacher who left to become a plumber (family business). As he said, "it was less bullshit to deal with." Another friend was a college instructor (also English) and I used to hear horror stories about his students all the time. And a third friend is still a high school English teacher, and for more of her stories, I tend to sympathize with her students, with the occasional thought of "hey! We survive high school without a cell phone, much less a smart phone!"
Lolol. "I tend to sympathize with her students". Shaping young minds, especially part-time, could be enjoyable (possibly).
I'm a bit burnt out. Years ago I used to program a lot outside of work. I now rarely do. I have about 20 years left until I'll hit the UK retirement age. I am struggling to imagine keeping up the current situation for that long.
If I could retire today, I would play more music. Maybe take up gardening? I don't particularly enjoy it, but my garden needs it.
I'm a little lucky 'cause I have lots of options. I enjoy teaching. I am not terrible with machinery and electronics, and could get better at it. I could maybe go back to doing geology, somehow, or more likely get certified in GIS or something where I get to look at pretty satellite photos and maps. I can always go into IT, 'cause I don't see glorified autocomplete systems handling that any time soon, at least not well. I am reluctantly considering going in to politics.
That sounds nice tbh. Something in science or tech-adjacent wouldn't be so bad.
I love the modern web technology field, and I couldn't imagine doing something else and being as happy. But the reality is I'm getting older.
Maybe I should think about becoming an AI researcher. I know a guy who became a scallop farmer (I didn't know that was a thing).
Only become an AI researcher if you love AI and you love research. I went to grad school and worked in a research lab afterwards and discovered that I really don't love research, I love building things. And I super don't love academia, which is its own problem that AI slop isn't going to make easier or less dysfunctional.
Maybe instead become a consultant for AI researchers, so you can take money from companies that want to solve all their problems with AI even when AI is not a good way to solve their problems.
That's an excellent idea. I kinda love this in the most megalomaniacal way possible (sigh, I'm a flawed character).
That said: Even though I've been fortunate in my tech career, I've always thought that a pure R&D job was my dream, i.e., there's no wrong answer/outcome, and the definition of done well is simply well-reasoned research.
I'd be interested in hearing more about your time in the research lab and in academia.
there's no wrong answer/outcome, and the definition of done well is simply well-reasoned research
In a perfect world, yes. In reality there is a correct answer, and it's "whatever gets you another grant". And grants are granted via papers, so the correct answer is "whatever produces a paper". And papers saying "we tried stuff and it didn't work" are unfashionable, so you have to do everything possible to a) write a paper that b) says you did something important and c) did it successfully. And if you don't manage this, you get fired and replaced with someone who does. Then if you're really really good at it, you get tenure or a chair at a research institution, where you get to spend all your time being a project manager at a lab instead of doing research. Oh and also now you're 50 and don't have the energy or vigorous mind for the fun stuff anyway.
tldr, becoming a scallop farmer instead of a scientist sounds great.
Recommended watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CbdVkcr-Nw
I watched the video. It's hilarious and interesting.
The entire academic research enterprise seems silly and bureaucratic. After everything he said, he never mentions why it's ultimately worth it (i.e., pursuing the PHD and/or doing the academic research).
Much of the content was about how performative academic research can be, and ironically, sadly, I took him much more seriously because he was wearing a lab coat the entire time. Lol.
What sort of geology? Mining is absolutely booming right now.
How do you distinguish IT from tech?
Tech is building stuff for customers to buy and thus mostly project based, IT is making machines do what humans internal to the company need them to and thus mostly operations based.
Mining would be cool but the idea of living somewhere in the ass-end of nowhere is less appealing now than it was a decade ago. I'd also be starting basically at the bottom, which is apparently more appealing to me in theory than in practice. If I had an easy in though? I'd still be tempted.
I love tech. Probably going to do tech my entire life, but may shift to more of a management role at some point.
A much better discussion would be what are you doing that you feel like you are going to burn out?
I feel the same as you. I'm not close to burning out; I'd happily keep working in tech until I die. I was contributing to open-source before my first job, and I'll (probably) be doing that after I'm unhireable.
Speaking of unhireable, I've been in tech for 30 years; we don't hire old people. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw a new hire who was clearly 55+. I've also never celebrated anyone's retirement (well, one person in 30 years).
Maybe you disagree, but there's clearly an employability clock in the technology industry that's narrower than in many other industries. I submitted this post because most people haven't thought about it or don't talk about it, and I'm interested in seeing what others think and have planned.
At my previous job there were several people who were over 55 who were hired. On my team, there were at least two people over 55 who were hired while I was there, but the team had rather unique requirements (telephony networking, SS7, that type of stuff). So it does happen, but I gather it's not common.
Hopefully retire, which means becoming a perpetual student. Just give me classes and more classes. I want to learn it all.
Probably still write some code.
One day I might get to be a grandpa, that sounds rad.
I'll probably keep doing it. I don't love AI-assisted coding, but it seems that's what's required to be competitive these days.
I actually don't mind AI-assisted, even AI-driven, but I would love/prefer it if our field remained human-centered. It seems like some technology leaders are chomping at the bit to go full cyberpunk dystopia.
I love and hate it. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make some of the really tedious, boring parts of the job way easier and faster for not a lot of money/overhead, but there are definitely downsides. I find siloing in my team being worse than ever and even find that systems where I'm ostensibly the author feel foreign to me.
I think I'm more exhausted by the discourse and resulting instability than anything else though.
and even find that systems where I'm ostensibly the author feel foreign to me
Truer words have never been spoken. Also, yes, the "discourse and resulting instability" is both exhausting and unsustainable.
One suggestion to prevent siloing is to share context via a memory system or at least a Git repo with Markdown files.
My father left the software industry in the early 2000s to become a poet. I don't know if poetry is my game but I will probably do the same someday with some kind of art, if I can make it work.
I've been struggling with this lately. I still like tech itself but I'm... tired of the industry. I've gotten what some might consider lucky breaks as of late, but it's also meant working in some very fast-paced orgs kind of by accident. And every company hiring wants to breathlessly tell me about the breakneck speed they're growing and shipping at; that's not new, but the AI boom has only accelerated the trend.
So, been toying with taking a break from tech whenever I leave my current thing, but I don't really know what I'd do instead. That being said, I feel blessed and privileged that would even be an option for me at my age. But the vague ideas I have (become a barista? get some crossword puzzles published?) ain't gonna pay the bills long term, especially in NYC.
Freelancing has some allure, but I've never done it and it requires a pretty different skillset. Also, I like having health insurance that doesn't suck.
If I still have to work I think I'd look into being a postie delivering mail in my region. Otherwise my plan is to retire in the next 8 years or so and fill my time with whatever projects or activities take my fancy.
I've felt this way before too. It's not tech per se, but the industry has gotten crazy and the type of characters leading the industry are no longer the kinds of folks I agree with or align with or even want to work for/with. The hyper bros, the VCs, the anti-human leadership, etc.
Fwiw, I do think freelancing is still viable. I have to keep reminding myself that even though AI makes much of what we do dramatically easier, most people still have zero desire to do it.
If money wasn't an issue, I could totally be a barista. A barista is like a respectable bartender, lol.
I'll probably always be in tech in some capacity. Right now I think I want to effectively retire and sit around making games. I don't have any desire to do it for income but would rather like to see other people playing the things I make.
Maybe you should start on those games now. That way, when the time comes, you'll have created some momentum.
I'm not sure there is an "after" for me. I've been programming since high school, but due to some circumstances wasn't able to career swap into tech until my late 20s. I went through a burnout phase a while ago, but stayed working and recovered. I really like what I'm doing now.
If I'm ever able to retire, I'll try to find a plot of rural land to so my wife can open a rescue for Scottish Terriers.
I have a small group of friends from a job a few years back. We have an inside joke that we will open an alpaca farm.
I like to say that I live near a bus depot and maybe I could become a bus driver in my city.
I bought a laser engraver a few years ago thinking I will make a small shop using it, but so far I didn't do anything worthwhile with it.
I also think about running or buying a small service business or a shop. Maybe with some Internet front. This idea is not really well thought out.
Other not well thought idea is to buy a property somewhere nice and make a small hotel.
Although currently I am trying to make a web service and hope to make a living out of it. I am not a webdev, but it is still within my expertise.
we will open an alpaca farm
Lol. Back in the day, there used to be late-night infomercials selling people on the idea of Emu and Alpaca farming.
All of your ideas presuppose having non-trivial amounts of discretionary income/savings. I do hope it works out that way for you.
My wife is an avid knitter and especially loves to work with alpaca fiber. She also finds them adorable. We also talk about alpaca farming, though not very seriously. I can think of worse things...
Starting to work on some stuff for animal care. Have some ideas that could meaningfully contribute to well-being of rescued animals that I've been working on for the last few years.
Interesting. Is it technology-related? i.e., Neuralink for pets.
It is, but it's not so dystopian :D For better cleaning of animals with severe fur matting.
This happens to me (err, my dog, Madison) all the time. We usually just accept that she has to get most of her hair cut off. She hates being bald, lol.
And that is the precise scenario I'm working on :)
Dematting without cutting or damaging the hair would be like finding a cure for a disease, lol. Let me know where/how to invest! We're gonna be rich :)
For the retirement question, I have seen a few people do it. One just recently after years of working on CAD software, and at a job ~10 years ago where a couple of guys on an old project were retiring in their 60s as the project they worked on (for decades in one case) was being decommissioned and replaced with a newer system. But I have seen a lot more people quit tech and switch careers.
For your first question: I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I never thought I'd say it, but as I get older I feel like I'm in the "burn out and go do something else" camp. I'll probably never stop coding for fun, but doing it for work is increasingly unsatisfying. I've thought about opening a bike shop, or doing mobile bike maintenance, or something with bikes, but the economics of it are brutal.
I'm retiring at the end of this year. I'm going to go try my hand at the apartment/house rental business. I think I can add some value there and I want to build stuff with my hands again. I'm connecting with my local government and the SBA/SBDC to hopefully minimize the amount of big mistakes I make.
Congratulations. I've always fancied real estate, but never enough to take the plunge. Actually, once upon a time I rented out my house (in the suburbs, after moving to an apartment in the city), and I ended up with a tenant who stopped paying rent (whom I eventually had to evict; it took several months).
Indeed, that's never fun. Depending on the state, the rules around how to get them out varies, but as you found out it's pretty much always a PITA process(on purpose).
I want to retire/exit tech as soon as I'm able to afford it financially. This also includes switching to a not-a-smartphone so I can reclaim some mental space for... probably reading or helping out some local climate initiatives. I'd love to open a cat shelter.
I don’t know anyone who’s retired from the technology industry, do you? In my experience, it's very rare. It seems like most people burn out and then go and do something else.
Guilty, in a sense. Professionally, I'm transitioning to healthcare as a Registered Nurse (RN). Personally though, I'll never stop being a techie.
I left the tech industry about 10 years ago, took a break, did some more tech work in the public sector, and finally quit tech work entirely. I am currently writing a bachelor's thesis in the humanities. After that we will see. Might continue on that path, or add librarian qualifications and "retire" to a public library.
Some time ago I put my laptop (my only PC) away. I don't miss it.
I know a few folks who've retired. I know a few who've moved on, some intentionally, some after hitting a wall of not being able to find a job that was suited to them due to various trend changes.
I'm about a decade away from retirement, so who knows if I'll make it another decade in tech or not? Not me, certainly.
Assuming an actual "retirement" retirement, my plan is to volunteer at a cat shelter or for some other worthy non-tech activity that brings me joy, and to read a lot, spend a lot of time intentionally listening to music, and perhaps write a few books unrelated to tech. I also want to spend time as much time as I can with my family, my cats, my dog, and just generally putter around like the old curmudgeon that I am.
I've actually been in management for the last few years and I think there's a solid path for me to move into consulting/software design/architecture within the family of companies that own my company. Other than that, I have a real love and passion for audio production and would like to try and get a record label off the ground and work more with podcasters, filmmakers, and stand up comedians.
Managing developers really just pays the bills.
I would just head for a government job - if tech ever gets me going crazy.
Not unreasonable, but it also sounds like a massive salary cut and eventual obsolescence.
Unless your tech exit plan is going into finance or becoming a VP somewhere, most jobs are going to be a massive salary cut, no?
Realistically: Whatever menial, physical labour a disabled guy can do cheaper than a robot?
I strongly doubt that there will be any labour market demand left for any skill of mine (tech or otherwise) in a decade, given where AI is going. It feels to me like it's not merely my skillset, but my entire type of person, that is living on borrowed time in the economy.
It's highly unlikely that I'll live to legal retirement age, so I'm not really thinking about actual retirement. I make payments to the pension fund, but I fully expect that all of it will end up in some pension fund executive's back pocket anyway.