The "grass is always greener" is probably the most repeated aphorism for a reason.
I'm counting the days until CoPilot suddenly turns a bunch of John Galts into Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists, but an additional effect is that a lot of people are going to notice that most programmers are at exactly the same professional level as other tradespeople, the difference is that since we're riding a wave of financial scams and deregulation that require the internet and cellphone apps as part of the grift, we're showered with cash. There will be a oversupply of programmers that plumbers will be laughing at.
I’ve worked in biotech/healthcare and have never had anything close to a FAANG salary even in a HCOL area. I burned out and am just now taking a month off to just exist. I have had the same thoughts about going blue-collar as the OP, but taking a month to figure out if it’s just general burn out or if I need a career change.
I’ve been working since I was very young and have had all sorts of jobs: door-to-door sales, lifeguard, retail, waiting tables, property maintenance, cleaning homes from flood/fire damage, and on and on. I loved a lot of those jobs, though I didn’t do any for more than 2.5 years (or even just a summer).
I don’t know if it was the pandemic or what, but never been so miserable at a job in my life and can’t imagine staring at a computer 40+ hours/week right now. I was literally staring into the Taco Bell drive-through window 6 weeks ago thinking I’d rather be working there and learn how to make a quesadilla in 1min than sit at a desk, which was the last straw for me.
Plus with software it’s all about the skills. So if I drop out for awhile and decide to get back in a few years later, I should be fine after a couple months of self-study.
This is a really naive statement. Software development is so easy and fun compared to most of the shit work out there. Everytime I see someone whining about burnout, I think about all the busboys and dishwashers I used to work with who probably also get burned out working long hard physical shifts for abusive bosses, in order to make in a week what many devs do in a couple of days.