Actually it's somehow kind of the inverse, any AI related code has been subpar which has been putting a lot of stress on the core systems in terms of reviews and performance.
From my personal perspective, things overall seemed more productive pre ChatGPT for FAANG level companies.
Whats interesting is I think there might be a disconnect between AI capabilities and tech executives. I'm guessing executives believe AI will catch up to be good enough to multiply engineers productivity say 120% within the next few years - hence the 20% layoffs everywhere.
Maybe this will be the case. But for me on the ground its producing a lot more work. I now have to code review everything starting at a very high level working my way down and there's just so much MORE code now.
My experience is that AI tooling just means engineers can do more, which means product managers want more… resulting in more work with the same engineering team…
What about short term interest rates (in the USA) going from close to 0 to 5 percent over the past 2 years?
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DFEDTARU
Even if you have no debt, your customers might. And your stock returns are being compared to a risk free rate that has increased rapidly.
Hopefully this time it won't tip the entire economy into recession, but I feel for all the folks who are being laid off.
If anything, these revolutions increased the demand for programmers and specialists in finance. A person wielding a right automation tool is producing much more revenue, while demanding nearly the same salary; it makes sense to hire more of such people, as long as there is a market for the product or service your company provides.
The layoffs are a signal of this not happening. The AI is not helping enough to increase production and revenue per worker. Companies are out of new and efficacious business ideas. The companies don't know where to apply the intellectual / productive capability they have, so they are cutting it down, to save on its (substantial) upkeep.