Most HW engineers working currently in industry have on average 15-20+ yoe. This is crazy. Why is it so? Also, it should mean people starting their careers now in HW will become very valuable when the old timers retire?
No demand for HW engineers will not increase. Equivalently, do you foresee a demand increase in compiler engineers?
On the compilers (and perhaps hw demand too), I do see it going up personally (though happy to hear differing opinions). An increase in custom hardware with flattening of Moore's law and demand for custom AI processors should lead to an increase in demand..
If it becomes possible to iterate on hardware as fast as we can on software, then the demand will increase. Otherwise it'll be a select few who design for mass production
HW engineering has moved mostly to Taiwan and China. What’s left in US are very senior and architect level people. Good HW design also requires far more skill. It’s a lot faster and cheaper to fix sw bugs and recompile, than to tape out new silicon and gerber new boards. When it’s got to work right the first time, nothing beats experience.
This
Multiple reasons. It’s not AI ML type fashionable. You need strong maths and engineering base. You actually need to be technical. Experience always trumps tech knowledge in this domain. Learning curve is extremely high and you need a lot of domain knowledge. Thankfully this makes us immune to age discrimination SW people go through
It's the other way round. Like aged wine. Older the better. Obviously only the good ones.
This is very true, barrier to entry is very high unlike software. How many posts do you see on blind "I went to a 6month bootcamp now work as codemonkey at xyz making six figures"? Compare that to HW..
And u prolly retire if you are in software ;)
People work until they’re 65 right? So just because 90% of who you interact with is under 35 means you obviously are not seeing a good chunk of the workforce
1. It's difficult and requires lots of practice to do, so it scares off people who don't have a strong interest. 2. Demand for Hardware Engineers (in US) has dropped and that's unlikely to change. 3. The barriers to entry are high (requires a formal education and years of experience ie there is no HW Boot camp and you can't really teach yourself ASIC design or product design mechanical engineering as a hobby) 4. You can make more money coding. 5. Arguably there is more prestige in coding, as well. Software : Hardware :: Doctor : Veterinarian
I think it's perceived as more difficult and less glamorous than sw. Like something that only old dinosaurs do. At least that was the feeling 10-12 ago when I was in school. And that was Europe. They ran like hell from any hw courses. I had a small orgasm everytime I dereferenced a pointer or groped some vhdl while everybody was in and out of Java frameworks and web dev. I guess I have a weird fetish.
Dereferencing pointers and VHDL is what passes for HW these days?
HW has better job security compared to software. Software is faster to get into, you make more money, but it’s extremely competitive to get the top jobs since you need to continuously keep up with the industry and increasing supply of SW folks - not to mention ageism. HW ages like fine wine, as another post said. As you move up in HW, you become more coveted for your expertise and experience. You can’t crash course your way into HW. In essence, pick your poison. Slow and steady, or quick return on investment.
It’s amusing to see the term ASIC in every HW post. There’s more to HW than that. But I’ll address the main point by using an example: there’s no way in hell you could design and manufacture an iPhone no matter how many LeetCode problems you solve. You need experience, maturity, domain knowledge, broad knowledge about electrical and mechanical systems, manufacturing, product engineering and so on and so forth. Young folks simply lack the experience.
2024 Presidential Election
Yesterday
2609
Biden ruined America and tech! Tax plans are insane
Tech Industry
Yesterday
25145
Google doing more layoffs, restructuring including country moves
Tech Industry
Yesterday
2194
So hard being a women in tech industry
Tech Industry
Yesterday
464
Which company’s employees are most insecure?
India
Yesterday
1695
Please vote sensibly 🙏
Because no one is doing HW anymore, so only people left in that industry are old timers.
Lots more people are doing hardware than you’d imagine. And most of them really love it. It’s a supply-demand thing. Lots more jobs for coders. Combined with the fact that you can’t just push a software update and fix something. Hardware mistake cost exponentially higher to fix than software. If you’re smart, hardware+software knowledge is the way to go. Provided you’re fairy good at both.