The developer market is shifting

The developer market is in the middle of a shift.

On one side: teams are shrinking

Large dev teams tend to shrink because of AI. Fewer hires, positions cut. We all see it.

And it makes sense: what sometimes took hours can now take minutes.

Within a few years, I even think dev teams as such will be rare, and really limited to companies whose product is the tech.

On the other: small businesses are starting to code

Meanwhile, and thanks to AI, more and more small and mid-sized businesses are starting to build their own custom tools in-house. Something they could not afford before.

And that is brand new! It is still timid and marginal in non-tech companies, but I see it more and more: it is happening.

These businesses clearly do not, and will not, need a full-time developer: too expensive, and out of proportion with the need.

What they will need is an expert who keeps pace with the technology and can come in to reframe, fix, improve, secure and right-size these internal tools as they go.

Conclusion

Full-time developers, often on permanent contracts, will become rarer and rarer. But experts for a few days a month will become the norm, and often as freelancers.

In the end, like in every revolution: one market collapses while another opens up.

But the expectations placed on the survivors of this new market are going to be enormous.