Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.
I see it in the comments. Every time someone points out what’s happening in software engineering right now—the quiet collapse of the middle, the rise of AI-powered developers, the shrinking need for entry-level engineers—people resist.
I get it.
Three years ago, I would have spent an hour on something that today takes me five minutes. Not because I got better, but because my tools did. Two months ago, I watched an AI generate a specialized Spark/Databricks solution that would have taken a senior engineer a full day to write. Not just something passable. Something flawless.
This is where we are now.
If you’re not using AI in your daily work, you’re already behind. If you’re still writing code like it’s 2020, you’re competing against people who can ship 10x faster, who don’t waste time on what can be automated, who understand that AI isn’t just a tool—it’s leverage.
Yet, people fight it.
They get angry at those who embrace AI, as if refusing to use it is some kind of moral stand. They try to rationalize why their job is different, why their skills won’t be automated.
They feel disillusioned when the thing they built a career on no longer holds the same value.
And then, eventually, they accept it.
Because they have to.
The middle is gone. The market doesn’t need “solid” engineers anymore. It needs elite engineers solving frontier problems and product builders who can move fast.
The question isn’t whether this shift is happening. The question is: Are you adapting?Where are you in the five stages?
