AI is becoming the easiest explanation for tech layoffs, but most of the industry's recent cuts were driven by overhiring, investor pressure, and changing economic conditions long before AI became the headline.
Tech companies spend millions trying to improve retention while avoiding the conversation most likely to solve the problem: the quality of the people managing their teams.
The code worked. Until production happened. AI-assisted development is accelerating software delivery, but many teams are discovering that fast code and good code are not the same thing.
Burnout in tech is no longer surprising. That should scare leadership teams. Exhaustion has become normalized across engineering organizations, and most companies are still treating it like a wellness issue instead of a structural leadership failure.
Companies are quietly freezing junior developer hiring while celebrating AI productivity gains. The short-term math works. The long-term consequences could reshape the entire software industry.
