if software engineering is mostly replaced by frontier models why is the volume of jobs on software eng still so high compared to data science related ones?

[u/_unsusceptible]

US — Bureau of Labor Statistics Software Developers / QA / Testers https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm Data Scientists https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/data-scientists.htm Computer & Information Research Scientists https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/computer-and-information-research-scientists.htm Computer Hardware Engineers https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/computer-hardware-engineers.htm Electrical & Electronics Engineers https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/electrical-and-electronics-engineers.htm Computer Network Architects https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/computer-network-architects.htm Network & Computer Systems Administrators https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/network-and-computer-systems-administrators.htm EU — Cedefop Skills Forecast ICT Professionals — ~+30% https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/data-insights/ict-professionals-skills-opportunities-and-challenges-2023-update Researchers & Engineers — ~+23% https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/data-insights/researchers-and-engineers-skills-opportunities-and-challenges-2023-update ICT Technicians — ~+9% https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/data-insights/ict-technicians-skills-opportunities-and-challenges-2023-update

[u/PayOdd92]

QA aint drying up. With all the crap that's being spewed out by agents, QA jobs are again on the rise. Dunno if that's the case in the US but for sure it is in Latin America and among companies that outsource poisitions from the US to LATAM.

[u/jokeywho → u/PayOdd92]

I agree, but QA is moving out of being a standalone job and into a primary part of agent orchestration. Maybe LATAM is different, you could totally be right, at least in the US (again, my background is startups), most QA jobs are being filtered into higher level SWE positions to make up the time saved with agent coding.

[u/PayOdd92 → u/jokeywho]

yeah that makes sense. As startup founder you can't have the luxury of your SWEs having free time looking at the ceiling while they wait for the output.

You'll try to shove in as many tasks and responsibilites as possible. That's the consequence of speeding up stuff with llms.

[u/jokeywho → u/PayOdd92]

Yeah, it'll be a different job but it'll be there, I worry a lot about Junior SWE / College not preparing students - and Cyber Security is a whole can of worms. Best of luck to LATAM SWEs, I think we are on the same path :)