Introduction: the dream job market is dead, long live the dev grind

There was a time when being a developer felt like a cheat code.

You could post your GitHub in a Slack thread and get a $200K offer the next day. Everyone was hiring. Startups were throwing equity like candy. FAANG engineers were hopping companies every 18 months just to pad their TC.

But that era? It’s gone.

The tech salary rocketship hit escape velocity and then ran out of fuel mid-orbit.

Now in 2025, the landscape is different. Even great devs are getting ghosted after final interviews. Recruiters are slow to respond (if at all). “We’re not hiring right now” has become the default auto-reply. Companies that once offered $400K for “Senior CRUD Engineer IV” are trimming staff and freezing headcount.

If you’re feeling anxious, you’re not alone.

This isn’t a doomscroll article. It’s not about blaming the market, VCs, AI, or Gen Z. It’s about facing the shift and figuring out how to survive it with your sanity (and skillset) intact.

€50 free credits for 30 days trial
 Promo code: devlink50

You don’t need to panic.
But you do need to adapt.
Let’s break down what actually happened and what devs should be doing now, not next quarter.

Section 2: The golden years (2015–2021) were a tech salary fever dream

Let’s be honest: we were spoiled.

Between 2015 and 2021, tech felt unstoppable.
Startups were raising pre-seed rounds with nothing but pitch decks. VC money was being lit on fire just to win engineer sign-ons. Even junior developers were getting six-figure packages without ever touching Kubernetes.

And then came 2020.

The world shut down, but tech didn’t. Instead, it exploded.

Suddenly:

• Remote became default
• Hiring went global
• Zoom calls replaced onsite interviews
• Burnout, layoffs, and fear? Yeah… but with record hiring too

Dev jobs became recession-proof-ish. Even folks mid-career switching from retail, teaching, or hospitality were landing roles with a 3-month bootcamp and a good LinkedIn headline.

Companies weren’t just hiring they were hoarding developers.
Amazon, Google, Facebook? They weren’t building they were stockpiling talent just to keep it away from competitors.

It was the golden age of:

• Free lunch
• $50k RSUs
• Wellness stipends
• Unlimited PTO that everyone pretended to use

You didn’t have to stand out.
You just had to be available.

But like all good things that move too fast it broke.

Section 3: The great correction (2022–2025) hit harder than we thought

What started as a “small round of layoffs” in early 2022 quickly became an avalanche.

Meta. Google. Amazon. Stripe. Salesforce. Shopify.
All cutting jobs. Publicly. Repeatedly.

Suddenly, LinkedIn feeds weren’t filled with “Just accepted a new offer!” they were filled with “My role was impacted. I’m open to opportunities.”

One minute you were running a CRUD app in Next.js and collecting $300K.
The next? You were doing LeetCode problems on a Saturday and trying not to refresh your inbox.

What actually changed?

• VC funding slowed down capital wasn’t cheap anymore

• Companies over-hired during the remote boom and realized they needed… less

• AI hype exploded, and execs thought ChatGPT would replace half the team by Q2

• Public markets punished bloated tech orgs, so execs had to “rightsize” to look lean again

And it hit everyone:

Junior devs:

• Ghosted by recruiters
• “Entry-level role” = requires 3 years of experience + cloud cert + telepathy

Seniors:

• Interview loops became harder
• More competition for fewer roles
• Companies now expect full-stack + infra + DevOps + “culture add”

Bootcamps & colleges:

• Grad pipelines dried up
• Placement rates dropped
• Programs that promised $150K jobs post-grad quietly stopped advertising numbers

This wasn’t just a market shift it was a mindset reset.

For years, we believed:

• “Tech always needs more devs”
• “FAANG will always be hiring”
• “Remote work is the future (and the future is now)”

Now?

Hiring still exists. But it’s different.
Leaner. Sharper. Less patient. More skeptical.

Section 4: The job isn’t dead but the myth is

Here’s the truth: software engineering isn’t dying.

It’s just not the cozy, overpaid utopia it used to be.
The $400K comp for maintaining internal dashboards? Yeah, those days are over.
The “we just raised Series B and we’re hiring 200 engineers by Q3” vibes? Gone.

But the work hasn’t disappeared.
What’s changed is how companies value that work.

What hiring managers actually care about now:

• Can you ship usable stuff with minimal oversight?
• Can you own a project, not just write functions?
• Are you a force multiplier or a ticket taker?

The new reality looks like this:

What companies want now:

• Generalists who can go from CLI to UI

• Engineers who can self-manage in async/remote settings

• People who understand cost, uptime, and user value, not just syntax

You don’t need to be a 10x rockstar ninja guru unicorn.
But you do need to show that you’re not just a cog.

And that means showing actual results.
Not just “look I used Astro + Tailwind + Supabase on this to-do app.”

The dev job still exists. But the vibe has shifted.
From comfy to competitive.
From hype to value.

Section 5: What devs should actually focus on in 2025

If you’re still chasing the old path CS degree → LeetCode → FAANG you’re gonna have a bad time.

Because the companies hiring in 2025?
They care less about where you studied and more about what you’ve built, shipped, or improved.

Here’s what actually makes you stand out now:

1. Build things. Small things. Ugly things. Useful things.

• Not just portfolio fluff. Build tools you’d actually use.
• Bonus points if you make other developers’ lives easier (CLI tools, dashboards, scripts, etc.)
• Blog about them. Document your pain. People will follow that more than your GitHub stars.

2. Think like a solo dev

• Learn how to get an idea from 0 → MVP → deployed.

That means:

• Backend (Node, Go, Python, etc.)
• Frontend (doesn’t need to be React just usable)
• DevOps (Docker, CI/CD, basic infra)
• You don’t need to be perfect just competent in every part of the loop

3. Go deep, not wide

• Niche is leverage.
• Everyone knows React very few people know how to optimize large-scale forms in React with 500k rows and 0 jank.

Examples of high-value niches:

• Browser automation (e.g., Puppeteer + AI + scraping)
• Internal tools for boring businesses (CRM, HR, medical systems)
• Dev productivity tooling
• AI prompt pipelines (if you can show results not just buzzwords)

4. Learn to market yourself (even if it feels cringe)

• A clean GitHub alone won’t get you noticed anymore.
• Post your learnings.
• Write Twitter/X/LinkedIn threads explaining problems you solved.
• Drop before/after screenshots.
• Show code + results. That’s the new résumé.

5. Know the cost of what you build

• Companies are cost-aware now.
• If you can say, “This change cut infra costs by 22%” you just hired yourself.
• Learn how to optimize for performance, scale, cost, and simplicity.

TL;DR:

In 2025, you don’t need to be a genius.
But you need to be a builder. A communicator. A finisher.

The jobs are still out there.
They’re just looking for people who solve problems, not just write syntax.

Section 7: What’s not working anymore (and probably never really did)

If you’ve been stuck on the job-hunting treadmill since 2023, chances are… you’ve been lied to.

Not maliciously. Just outdated advice passed around so many times, it became scripture.

But the market in 2025? It doesn’t care what the grindset YouTubers said. It’s running on a whole new OS.

Let’s kill off some broken strategies:

“Just do LeetCode every day”

Look, algorithm practice helps. It sharpens problem-solving and can get you past technical rounds.

But if all you have is 200 solved questions and no projects, you’re just a human GPT clone.
Most jobs now don’t even ask for DSA unless it’s a Big Tech role and even then, they also want:

• Systems thinking
• Clear code organization
• Real-world experience

So yeah… do LeetCode. But don’t only do LeetCode.

“Apply to 100 jobs a week with one résumé”

Spray-and-pray hasn’t worked in years. Recruiters get flooded. ATS filters everything.

If your application doesn’t match the job description or clearly say why you’re relevant, it’s instant archive.

A better use of your time?
Apply to fewer jobs.
But write a short custom blurb. Show a relevant project. Reference their stack. Show you’re not a bot.

“I got a CS degree so I’m safe”

Cool. So did half the industry.

Degrees can open doors. But now? Companies care about how fast you can:

• Get up to speed
• Collaborate remotely
• Deliver actual value

If your last commit was in college, they’re moving on.

“I worked at FAANG once”

Congrats. Seriously.

But that badge doesn’t make you untouchable anymore.
You’re now competing with ex-FAANG folks who built cool stuff after their layoffs not ones resting on titles.

“I finished a bootcamp”

Nice you made it through. That takes effort.

But you still need to show your skills:

• Projects that solve real problems
• Clean documentation
• Clarity of thought when explaining your work

Otherwise, you’re just another résumé in the pile.

TL;DR:

Old tricks don’t work in a lean market.

You can’t fake passion with buzzwords.
You can’t brute-force your way into a job anymore.
You have to show that you care and that you can deliver.

Section 8: Where the real opportunities are hiding now

The job market didn’t vanish. It just stopped showing up in the usual places.

Forget the dream of cold-DMing a FAANG recruiter and waking up to a $300K offer. That’s not the move anymore.

But here’s where the actual action is in 2025:

1. Boring industries that still need builders

Healthcare, insurance, legaltech, logistics, B2B tooling

They’re not flashy. They don’t have landing pages with 3D scroll animations. But they’re stable, messy, and very willing to pay developers who can clean up legacy chaos.

If you can take a PHP monolith and turn it into something testable, you’re worth gold in these fields.

2. Small teams solving very specific problems

• Niche consultancies
• 5-person SaaS companies
• DevOps-as-a-service gigs
• Open-core startups

They don’t care if you have a degree. They care if you can ship fast, debug well, and communicate clearly.

Bonus: they’re remote by default.

3. Indie hacking & micro-SaaS

No VC. No boss. Just you, some caffeine, and a Notion board.

It’s not passive income magic but it is a way to build your own opportunity.
Make something small, useful, ugly. Iterate. Launch. Repeat.

Best part?
It builds real-world proof that you can identify problems and solve themwhich is exactly what hiring managers want to see.

4. AI isn’t replacing you yet but it’s reshaping the market

The smart money isn’t on building the next ChatGPT.

It’s on building tools around AI:

• Internal copilots
• Dev automation tools
• Domain-specific prompt pipelines
• Clean frontends for messy LLM output

Companies want people who understand what AI can do and what it can’t.

If you can bridge that gap, you’re not replaceable you’re essential.

5. Remote isn’t dead it’s just more selective

The wild west is over, but real remote roles still exist.
They just:

• Take longer to land
• Require asynchronous communication skills
• Expect you to self-manage and hit deadlines without hand-holding

Nail that combo, and you can still work from anywhere. Even your kitchen. Even in Crocs.

TL;DR:

If you zoom out from the hype machine, you’ll see:

• There’s still demand for real devs
• The problems are harder, but more interesting
• You don’t need to be famous you just need to be useful

Section 9: Helpful resources for surviving the 2025 dev market

This isn’t another “Top 10 Bootcamps” list.
This is the real stuff that developers are using right now to stay sharp, stay connected, and stay paid.

Freelance & contract gig platforms

These aren’t perfect, but they’ve helped devs bridge income gaps or find long-term clients:

• Toptal high barrier to entry, but solid clients

• Contra portfolio-style freelance network

• We Work Remotely legit full-time and contract remote listings

• Gun.io dev-centric gigs

Dev communities that don’t suck

• r/ExperiencedDevs honest takes from devs in the trenches

• Indie Hackers learn how solo devs are making $5k/mo from simple tools

• Dev.to real blog posts, no SEO spam

• Twitter/X (but curate aggressively) follow devs who build and share

Solo dev / indie SaaS resources

• Buildspace real-world, shipping-focused online dev courses

• Pico.dev starter templates and real-world SaaS blueprints

• TinySeed indie SaaS accelerator

• OpenStartupList see how others build public, profitable products

Learning that doesn’t feel like school

• Frontend Masters actually solid content

• Zero To Mastery modern, beginner-to-advanced tracks

• Excalidraw because drawing system diagrams makes you look 100x smarter

• System Design Primer still relevant in every interview

Bonus tools you’ll probably love:

• Raycast the dev power tool for your OS

• Zed the next-gen collaborative IDE

• Warp modern terminal with command memory and AI

• Bun if you want Node.js but faster and less cursed

TL;DR:

• Don’t just apply participate
• Don’t just learn share
• Don’t just build ship and show it

The dev community is still out here.
Just in smaller, smarter pockets.

Section 10: The game isn’t over but the meta has changed

You don’t need to quit tech.
You don’t need to learn ten new frameworks.
You don’t need to go back to school, grind LeetCode 12 hours a day, or build the next billion-dollar startup from your mom’s basement.

But you do need to face reality:

The easy-mode dev job market is over.
The new game is harder, faster, and less forgiving.
And you need to adapt to win.

Here’s the new meta:

• You are your own product. Learn to build, explain, and show your work.

• Specialists win. Go deep into weird problems that real people need solved.

• Builders stand out. Side projects, open source, weird ideas these matter now more than résumés.

• Community is leverage. Find a circle. Share your work. Boost others.

This isn’t the end of software jobs.
It’s just the end of complacent ones.

And honestly? That’s kind of exciting.