The 2025 Bum Thread

mid_gen

mid_gen

mid_gen

Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
16,390
Seems there's a few people who are or will imminently be unemployed this year. I'm currently serving my notice period due to an RTO mandate.

Not sure what I'm going to do next. Remote work? Not likely as games job market is dead. Freelance? Maybe. Make an indie game? Maybe. Make some Unreal tools and flog em? Maybe. Bin off games entirely? Build my Youtube channel? Work on videography as a profession? Bugger off to live somewhere very remote and cheap and just do a bit of seasonal work to pay the bills whilst doing loads of climbing and outdoors stuff?

* The last item is very high on my list right now :p

Fortunately I have a good savings runway and very low overheads so I can not work for years if necessary.
 
Same, got given the "Heave-ho" End of October, also serving my notice period till end of Feb.

Currently living in mainland Europe, job market here is rubbish for IT. Had a few interviews but nothing came of them.

Yesterday I had an 5hr interview for a Cloud Architect role. Not fun going through long and multiple interview stage again.

Thankfully, I have zero debt here and in the UK.
 
Last edited:
I got the push late last year my boss and others at the end of dec.

In november I decided to upskill by doing an artificial intelligence short programme at oxford uni. Rationale was I wanted a vendor independent course that had structure and would be recognised.

Now on module 5/6, it’s been really good, resolves many of the questions I have and given me confidence.

From an employment market, it’s probably worth pointing out thay many roles are touted to change but given the law, regulatory flux and BS around AI it’s worth saying it will change with AI augmenting most roles and automating ones thay dont need social skills or expertise inovating or creatively.
I think things will change, but I dont think we’ll see replacements unless you’re simply doing donkey work in law or tax etc. it should be noted that 35-45% speed up for coding doesn’t stretch to complex systems which drop to 10%.
 
Last edited:
NickK said:
I got the push late last year my boss and others at the end of dec.

In november I decided to upskill by doing an artificial intelligence short programme at oxford uni. Rationale was I wanted a vendor independent course that had structure and would be recognised.

Now on module 5/6, it’s been really good, resolves many of the questions I have and given me confidence.

From an employment market, it’s probably worth pointing out thay many roles are touted to change but given the law, regulatory flux and BS around AI it’s worth saying it will change with AI augmenting most roles and automating ones thay dont need social skills or expertise inovating or creatively.
I think things will change, but I dont think we’ll see replacements unless you’re simply doing donkey work in law or tax etc. it should be noted that 35-45% speed up for coding doesn’t stretch to complex systems which drop to 10%.
Click to expand...
Even if AI only brings about a 20% reduction in required manpower for a given task..... that is a whole lot of people that are going to need to find a new career.

I am torn at the moment between trying to make some passive income ( continue developing my YouTube presence, sell some digital stuff), or moving completely to in-person business dealing in interpersonal transactions, hospitality, tourism etc, which won't go away.

Or do I just bugger off abroad somewhere for one last hurrah and bank as much tech money as possible before the jobs disappear....then retire early.
 
Also potentially unemployed end of Feb :cool:

Totally my own doing, i've been doing the same thing for the last 11 years, and while it pays very well and isn't very hard or stressful, I want to work remotely and do something i'm more interested in/passionate about!

Ideally in IT or Cyber Security, have applied to quite a few roles but not had a peep back, seems pretty tough getting past a paper sift without 57 years of relevant job experience :(

Have plenty of savings and no debt, so not the end of the world, but definitely feeling a tad anxious for the change!
 
Are there any sectors that aren't in decline?

Some people I know personally have also been laid off or resigned due to RTO mandates.
 
Megahurtz400 said:
Also potentially unemployed end of Feb :cool:

Totally my own doing, i've been doing the same thing for the last 11 years, and while it pays very well and isn't very hard or stressful, I want to work remotely and do something i'm more interested in/passionate about!

Ideally in IT or Cyber Security, have applied to quite a few roles but not had a peep back, seems pretty tough getting past a paper sift without 57 years of relevant job experience :(

Have plenty of savings and no debt, so not the end of the world, but definitely feeling a tad anxious for the change!
Click to expand...

Unless you are at an senior level or above. Trying to get into IT right now is bad timing.
 
malachi said:
Unless you are at an senior level or above. Trying to get into IT right now is bad timing.
Click to expand...

It would seem so, but if I don't throw myself into the deep end now I'll end up staying where I am for another 10 years and get into my forties still feeling just an unfulfilled and unhappy!
 
Tykey said:
OP what would you enjoy the most work wise? If it's to make a game then maybe consider doing it while you can?
Click to expand...
I do enjoy making games, but I've been in leadership roles on AAA for over ten years now, and in that time I've only managed to get one game shipped. It's pretty draining. I am building some of my own game prototypes at the moment just to freshen up my skills on the latest version of Unreal. Finding a publisher and getting an indie game out is kinda appealing.

On the other hand, I'm mid-forties now. I'm an active person and I'm not sure I want to spend the next twenty years of my working life sat behind a desk. We don't have or want kids so have quite a lot of financial freedom, so are weighing up various options. My partner is a university lecturer and facing imminent redundancy as well, which is a factor.

One of the options we are very seriously considering is to move to sell up, move a remote area and just do bits of part time seasonal work in hospitality to pay the bills, and use the rest of the time to engage in passion projects of various kinds.
 
Megahurtz400 said:
Have plenty of savings and no debt, so not the end of the world, but definitely feeling a tad anxious for the change!
Click to expand...
Same here, I can not work for a few years if I'm frugal. It's hard to push the anxiety about income to the side though.

I've been on an Ebaying binge since the start of the year just shifting anything I haven't used for a while, surprising what people will pay for some stuff!
 
mid_gen said:
Seems there's a few people who are or will imminently be unemployed this year. I'm currently serving my notice period due to an RTO mandate.

Not sure what I'm going to do next. Remote work? Not likely as games job market is dead. Freelance? Maybe. Make an indie game? Maybe. Make some Unreal tools and flog em? Maybe. Bin off games entirely? Build my Youtube channel? Work on videography as a profession? Bugger off to live somewhere very remote and cheap and just do a bit of seasonal work to pay the bills whilst doing loads of climbing and outdoors stuff?

* The last item is very high on my list right now :p

Fortunately I have a good savings runway and very low overheads so I can not work for years if necessary.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear this. Welcome to the club. The last item is very tempting too
 
NickK said:
I got the push late last year my boss and others at the end of dec.

In november I decided to upskill by doing an artificial intelligence short programme at oxford uni. Rationale was I wanted a vendor independent course that had structure and would be recognised.

Now on module 5/6, it’s been really good, resolves many of the questions I have and given me confidence.

From an employment market, it’s probably worth pointing out thay many roles are touted to change but given the law, regulatory flux and BS around AI it’s worth saying it will change with AI augmenting most roles and automating ones thay dont need social skills or expertise inovating or creatively.
I think things will change, but I dont think we’ll see replacements unless you’re simply doing donkey work in law or tax etc. it should be noted that 35-45% speed up for coding doesn’t stretch to complex systems which drop to 10%.
Click to expand...
I'm hoping my client/stakeholder interfacing skills are more needed for this very reason.

Jobs market seems "OK" right now
 
mid_gen said:
I do enjoy making games, but I've been in leadership roles on AAA for over ten years now, and in that time I've only managed to get one game shipped. It's pretty draining. I am building some of my own game prototypes at the moment just to freshen up my skills on the latest version of Unreal. Finding a publisher and getting an indie game out is kinda appealing.

On the other hand, I'm mid-forties now. I'm an active person and I'm not sure I want to spend the next twenty years of my working life sat behind a desk. We don't have or want kids so have quite a lot of financial freedom, so are weighing up various options. My partner is a university lecturer and facing imminent redundancy as well, which is a factor.

One of the options we are very seriously considering is to move to sell up, move a remote area and just do bits of part time seasonal work in hospitality to pay the bills, and use the rest of the time to engage in passion projects of various kinds.
Click to expand...
I didn't realise we were in such a similar position.
I also think "in getting old, time is ticking, if I spend next 20 years doing the same am I just going to be bitter"

But making the change is hard, hardest mentally. Programmed to work the 9-5, pay off mortgage and retire in bordem is baked in.

Finding it hard to open my mind far enough to make a real change.
 
They accidentally release prelim results (with only 4 of 6 modules) and I’m sitting at 57% (pass is 50%) and 38% of marks still to be awarded.

The current final module is a business case so will take all my time this week. Then I’ll get the CV out.

It’s also occuring to companies that AI agents and AI are only returning ROI in less than 50% of attempts. That means people will still be needed for a long time yet so I’d expect more roles to start appearing.
 
413x said:
I didn't realise we were in such a similar position.
I also think "in getting old, time is ticking, if I spend next 20 years doing the same am I just going to be bitter"

But making the change is hard, hardest mentally. Programmed to work the 9-5, pay off mortgage and retire in bordem is baked in.

Finding it hard to open my mind far enough to make a real change.
Click to expand...
We are both fighting that cultural pressure to stick with the grind until retirement. Having no kids really turns that on it's head though, you don't *need* to grind for 38 hours a week.

We could get by on 20 hours a week each, minimum wage.

It's a bit tough to give up the software engineering lark though, it does pay well and (tooting my own horn), I am good at it. I am ready for a break for a bit though, at least while the games industry gets past this bust cycle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom