I'm currently about to change jobs. The company I'm leaving is a small AI company with much of its business coming in the form of speculative investments/proof-of-concept contracts from large corporations with research budgets.<p>I'm <i>mainly</i> leaving because the new opportunity is more exciting. But between the economic downturn and the "AI autumn", I'm definitely feeling like I made the right decision.<p>The new company is small but solid, unbeholden to investors, and it provides a very tangibly valuable service to an industry which itself provides a very tangibly valuable product that basically everyone needs. So it feels like a good place to be when the storm hits.
I'm working in a travel startup, so this is quite scary. I hope that travel picks up quickly once the initial hit is ingested. But honestly right now I worry more about the health of older relatives than my job as a developer.
“FAANG types aren't going to be as affected as early stage startup types or freelancer types.”<p>I wouldn’t be so sure. Corporations use down cycles to shed employees. And often they will hire contractors.