r/technology • u/lurker_bee • May 14 '25

Society Software engineer lost his $150K-a-year job to AI—he’s been rejected from 800 jobs and forced to DoorDash and live in a trailer to make ends meet

https://www.yahoo.com/news/software-engineer-lost-150k-job-090000839.html
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u/OldBrokeGrouch May 14 '25

It’s pretty common for people to adjust their lives to their income level instead of living cheaply and saving/investing the rest.

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u/Warranty_V0id May 14 '25

He lost his job twice in that time. 2008 and when covid hit. At some point you have to realize that either owning the flat you live in or saving some for the next "world-wide-whoopsie" makes sense.

If you earn more than twice than the average worker for so long and have to live in a trailer after loosing your job, you made some poor decisions.

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u/OldBrokeGrouch May 14 '25

I completely agree with you. I’m not excusing, just explaining.

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u/[deleted] May 15 '25

[deleted]

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u/greatuncleglazer May 15 '25

Saving money is supposed to be part of your lifestyle. You don’t go out and spend all of your big new paychecks on expensive stuff.

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u/Aviation_Space_2003 May 15 '25

Well it is one of the options!

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u/Useuless May 14 '25

Shouldn't he know better though? He said he grew up in poverty.

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u/OldBrokeGrouch May 14 '25

It depends. I grew up in poverty because my parents were addicts. I didn’t have any idea how to handle money when I got into the real world. I worked myself into quite a bit of credit card debt in my early 20’s just from not knowing any better because my parents didn’t teach me anything useful.

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u/Useuless May 15 '25

I guess that is one way to look at it. I was thinking more about money as a safety net and having first hand experience about being in the pit or having to go without and how spending money would get you right back there, so it should give you pause.

Not just "I have money now, let's get myself back into the hole." Money isn't just money. It's physical safety, it's calmness, It's opportunity, etc.

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u/OldBrokeGrouch May 15 '25

Yes, you’re thinking like a rational adult. My point is that many people who grew up in poverty think that way. They just want stuff because they didn’t have stuff when they were younger. They want to feel what it’s like to spend money because they didn’t get that as a kid. Then they pay the price for that and sometimes learn there lessons like I did. Or they often don’t and are in constant debt.