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Code monkeys can essentially be replaced by GenAI (that is, a competent SWE team needs fewer or zero low-skill code monkeys going forward) but the "field" goes way beyond code monkeys.

Replacing piles of expensive crappy SaaS with a small team of expert SWE will continue to be a massive arbitrage opportunity for many mid/large orgs.

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And then the thing is, how do you train new employees? Any juniors will be useless.

Year, or two of unpaid internships? It's nothing new. In my country it works like this for doctors or pharmacists - they have to do half a year of unpaid work if they want to get diploma (and I use work and not internship for reason) Because as a junior you don't bring anything of value to company, you're a loss to them.

I think the field will mature into a traditional specialist field like doctor/pharmacist. Well-paid junior positions may cease to exist, because we just don't need an army of juniors pumping out low-quality code anymore. But experts remain essential.

The GenAI economy transition will be very weird. The (US) education system isn't remotely prepared for it. Why pay a bunch of money for a 4-yr CS degree?

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