I would like someone to tell me that 2023 will not be even harder for this industry, but my opinion is that it will be worse. I may be too pessimistic, but right now I see no reason for being overly optimistic.
It is not easy for me to leave this industry because I have been here for almost half of my life, but I'm still considering this option.
@1cwj yup the STEM encouragement is a good thing, if one has the aptitude, but the everyone goes to college has been a bad thing. What has happened is the college curriculum has been drastically d-mbed down even in the STEM fields. The BS and MS computer science degree from the 1980s and 1990s is vastly different than the same degrees today, and not in a good way.
I have been interviewing and hiring computer science graduates for 40+ years.
In the 1980s and 1990s if someone had a BS / MS in Computer Science they had the skills and aptitude for the job when you hired them, because the colleges weeded out those without aptitude. Now, its a pig in a poke, even from supposed good universities, nearly everyone gets a degree.
There was an in-depth study where they found that literally 3% of the population would ever really be good at computer science. The 3% brains were just wired differently. This 3% could crank out code that reliably works.
The rest of the population struggles to produce quality code that reliably works.
Ergo the ever present problems with buggy software and cost overruns.
I’m not so sure we want a bunch of software engineers who aren’t wired to produce good code, no matter what continent they reside.
It is not a message that most people want to hear, just like not everyone can be a Michael Jordan or a Picasso, not everyone should have a STEM profession.
Especially tricky going from big corporation to smaller company or one with more startup mentality. We are used to having fairly narrow scoped responsibility, with other support orgs for some aspects. Other places may expect wider range if as and knowledge. I've heard from friends elsewhere they avoid veteran auto company employees because they don't think they can change
For years, the country has been encouraging kids to go into STEM, particularly computer science. Now we are off shoring all these jobs. What are all these kids going to do?
If you have the knack for it skilled trades is a good bet. Low barrier to entry, job can’t be off-shored, high demand, high pay. You will need to get your hands dirty. You can be your own boss if you want to.
It's not a bad idea to look into a career change
Have you thought about reaching out to a career counselor to help you figure out what other options you have? They can help you with your resume in ways you might not have thought of, do some assessments, & help you uncover what your next move might be...
I would recommend this route before you invest in any sort of degree or certification.... to figure out how you can use the skills you already have (and avoid further debt, and significant time investment that would be involved with taking classes)
@1ipx Is correct. The 2024 goal is 85% off shore, 2025 92% off shore. Can’t believe how many people are in denial about this despite announcements, press releases and leaked leadership / BCG slides.
@wtv,
All the data and software jobs will very easily sent outside of the USA. This is already happening.
Why would you want to leave the automotive industry now, especially Ford? Data and software finally is storming through Ford and GM, Stellantis, Toyota, and all the other OEM's will follow. This is where you want to be. The hardware and manufacturing side is a dying business I will admit, but the software/cloud side, certainly not.
Get out while you can either by retirement or an industry change. Either way save as much as you can, cut your expenses.
Preparing for the worst is on you.
Good luck.
Yes , I am. Thinking of doing an MBA at Ross and then move to Amazon or so.
If you have been in the auto industry more than ten years, and want to leave. Good Luck. Some industries won't concider candidates with automotive, other industries are worse then automotive.
There is a perception that everyone in automotive is UAW.