What steps should software developers take to shield themselves from the failing U.S. economy?

Question

Do we need to fear the $700 Billion government bailout? Will defense contractors eventually take a hit? What software specialties should we be able to depend on to ride out the market? What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

I think it's going to be bad for everyone. Make sure you've got 6 months of living expenses saved up.

Wouldn't hurt to cultivate some clients on the side as well. A dozen clients might be more dependable than one employer during the upcoming Apocalypse :)

Answer 2

Orielly.com have a good commentary:

http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2008/09/why-programmers-should-be-watc.html

It starts with a detailed discussion about what caused the current financial turmoil. If you are short on time, just skip to the section titled "The Economy and IT". Or if you just need the bulleted list go to the very end where the author lists several TODOs like Stay Liquid, Diversify Clients, Build Savings, Get involved in OSS etc.

Definitely worth a read.

Answer 3

Two of these questions look answerable:

What steps should software developers take to shield themselves from the failing U.S. economy? What software specialties should we be able to depend on to ride out the market?

My number one tip continues to be: "Be more than a code monkey." If your management looks at you and sees nothing more than one of a set of typists, you're potentially on a list of "who can we drop if times get rough?"

There are some very straightforward things to get you off the monkey list:

1. Make sure your boss knows what you do and how you're generating value for your employer. You know those boring one-on-ones that you have every now and then? Do you hand your boss a single sheet of paper with your recent highlights and achievements? No sheet of paper? Bad. No one-on-ones? Potentially very bad. Fix those and you've taken a step towards "we can't get rid of that guy!"

2. Exercise more than your coding skills. Can you write up what you've been working on? Can you imagine how it might change from a small task into a larger effort? Can you present your ideas in print? Can you get up in front of a group of people to talk about your work, challenges, successes or ideas?

In the end, your job may go away no matter what you do (it's happened to me twice in my career). That said, if you learn how to make yourself more obviously valuable to your current employer, you're only making it easier for your next employer to pick you up if the worst happens.