Your probably bosses think it's worth it if the outcome is getting rid of the whole host of y'all and replace you with AWS Elastic-SWE instances. Which is why it's imperative that you maximize AI usage.
They’ll be replaced with cheaper humans in Mexico using those Copilot seats, that’s much more tangible and obvious, no need to wait for genius level AI
No one's switching to AI cold turkey. Think of it as training your own, cheaper replacement. SWEs & their line managers develop & test AI workflows, while giving the bosses time to evaluate AI capabilities, then hopefully shrink the headcount as close to 0 as possible without shrinking profits. Right now, it's juniors who're getting squeezed.
Increasing profits by reducing the cost of doing business isn't a complicated scheme. It's been done thousands of times, over many decades; first with cheaper contractors replacing full-time staff, then offshore labor, and now they are attempting to use AI.
It's not complicated because "bosses" accomplish this by saying "let's reduce the cost of doing business" to someone who actually does whatever is needed.
The value of a boss/manager when there's no employees to do the work is negative. AI won't change this.
> "bosses" accomplish this by saying "let's reduce the cost of doing business" to someone who actually does whatever is needed
I don't know where you work, but in my experience, headcount reductions are strictly a top-down exercise. At best, the bosses may ask line managers who the essential people on their teams are. At worst, they get handed a list of people to fire, and they themselves may get the boot right after.
My bosses aren't pushing it at all. The normal cargo-cult temptations have pulled on some fellow SWEs, but its being pretty effectively pushed back on by its own failings, paired with SWEs who use it being outperformed by those who dont.
