Cheap Code ≠ Cheaper Coders
We aren’t talking innovation anymore—it’s a full-on coding revolution happening here! AI coding tools, such as Cursor, Zed, GitHub Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude Artifacts and OpenAI’s canvas, are helping non-developers break into coding while helping the existing developers code 10x faster.
However, some argue that since these coding tools are so cheap, they might end up making coders even cheaper.
Really?
In the US, software developers earn between $40,000 and $150,000 annually, depending on experience and specialisation, with an average salary of around $89,190 per year.
In India, the salaries range from INR 3.2 lakh to 7 lakh for juniors and between INR 11 to 30 lakh for senior developers annually.
Meanwhile, GitHub Copilot charges $10 per month after a one month free trial and Cursor is free for most use cases. But for the Pro version, it costs $20 per month with unlimited completions. And these are just two of these AI coding tools; the market is now inundated with several cheaper services.
Doing quick maths, it would seem like onboarding a fresh team of developers with the knowledge of AI tools would certainly be cheaper than hiring an experienced developer who doesn’t know these tools, but who would still demand a higher salary.
Plus, in the future, these coding software would only get cheaper, which might also result in the developers getting “cheaper”.
But this Sounds too Easy of an Explanation
The claim is that hiring an experienced developer with a higher package does not make sense for companies as new developers with AI tools can do the same job, with possibly lesser salaries. This hasn’t been proven in the job market yet as the salaries of the software developers, who know hardcore coding, is still the highest.
Developers have been discussing this as well. One posted on X that with 10 years of experience, he got an offer from Google for a senior software engineer role at an INR 65 base LPA, excluding several benefits.
This implies quite the opposite of coders getting cheaper.
Furthermore, if an AI tool saves even a few minutes of an experienced developer’s time or helps prevent errors, it is still a cheaper option in comparison to a new developer’s salary. These “AI-powered skilled developers” are able to do the job of 10 developers.
Coding is Only Part of the Job
An experienced developer is actually at the position and skill level with these AI tools that they can demand a higher salary, making them more expensive. But this might also result in the loss of several junior developer jobs in companies. This implies that though the teams might become lean, the amount that a company pays for the developer team would still remain high.
The tech world is always buzzing with the idea that one doesn’t need a college degree in computer science to land a coding job which has led to people believing that coding is getting cheaper and cheaper. We still don’t know a real example of this.
The reality, on the other hand, is that securing a job still requires a level of expertise and experience that only seasoned developers possess, not the “cheap modern developers”.
As Francois Chollet had earlier said, “Code is largely worthless, more of a liability than an asset. Problem-solving is where the value is.” He added that he is hoping for someone to take away the coding part of his job so he can focus on higher order tasks.
Who is Getting the Coding Jobs Then?
Techies and graduates coming out of college are soon going to be looking for software engineering jobs. Approximately 50,000 to 65,000 people will be job hunting in the tech sector that’s cooling off with startups looking to maintain a leaner team with a focus on profitability, which was booming a few years back.
The demand and the applications for a single job will increase multiple times, and graduates will not be able to land good enough jobs soon. This has been the case since last year.
“It’s a very tough market right now, especially for juniors. A degree, leet code skills, and the ability to discuss a past project in depth are huge plusses right now,” said Matt Harrison, Python and data AI trainer, in a LinkedIn post.
On the brighter side, this has resulted in new coders actually realising the need to upskill themselves with these AI tools to land jobs quicker, while also getting off their high horses of huge salary expectations to match with the job market.
This, overall, has resulted in junior coders actually getting cheaper for companies as they are fine with lower salaries and are happy to just land a job. The good ones will remain expensive, but the average pay would still remain intact.
Get Your College Degree
“A couple of years ago, it was trendy to s*** on college degrees. Zero interest rates confused people into thinking that owning a computer was the only ‘skill’ needed to get a high-paying job. Not anymore. When 100 people compete for a job, guess who is getting a callback,” asked Santiago Valdarrama, founder of Tideily. Certainly the ones with experience, skill, and most importantly, a college degree. The addition of knowledge of AI tools is just an added brownie point for the skilled.
Salaries are also reaching a tipping point for experienced developers. Especially in the US, while salaries have indeed risen, they are approaching saturation point and the ongoing economic pressures will temper future hikes, according to experts who spoke with AIM.
Companies in the US that were offshoring their coding work to cheaper options in India are the only ones to benefit from code getting cheaper. They would be able to set up an in-house team using junior developers who know coding tools to get the job done cheaper.
So yes, coders might get cheaper, but only for the West.
Recommended by LinkedIn
When it comes to India, many fresh graduates are not even technically skilled enough to land a junior developer position. For example, a few months ago TCS was unable to fill 80,000 job openings as the freshers demanded high salary, but came with sub-par technical skills.
India is very laid back while adopting the AI coding tools. This is also because colleges are not able to train the students with the relevant skills as the professors themselves aren’t trained well enough in programming.
A good news though is that the Indian IT sector is projected to see an 8-10% increase in hiring in 2025, with a strong focus on roles in AI, ML, cybersecurity, and full-stack development. Some even predict that it might double by the second half of 2025.
All of this is in line with the predictions of more coding jobs in the coming years. Though the salary and job role of such positions is still only imaginable. That is why existing developers should focus on developing engineering, programming, and also AI coding skills to land a job in this difficult market.
Best Firm for Data Scientists >>
Best Firm for Data Scientists is one of India's biggest workplace certification platforms in data science. To nominate your organisation for the certification, fill out the form here.
People & Tech >>
Oracle AI Navigates Supply Chain Hurdles, Tackling Costs Head-On
“People don’t actually care about artificial intelligence. What they care about is productivity,” said Derek Gittoes, vice president, supply chain management product strategy at Oracle, in an interaction with AIM on the sidelines of Oracle CloudWorld 2024 in Las Vegas.
Oracle recently upgraded its Fusion Cloud Supply Chain and Manufacturing (SCM) suite with new UX enhancements, allowing customers to leverage AI to improve and accelerate tasks, boost productivity, and more. Enjoy the full story.
Publicis Sapient Integrates AI Across Industries to Elevate Customer Experience
By prioritising customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of valuable software, businesses can embrace change and strengthen collaboration between development and business teams.
Leading this transformation is Publicis Sapient, whose CTO and SVP of engineering, Rakesh Ravuri, shared exclusive insights with AIM on how AI is automating workflows and enhancing Agile practices. Read more here.
AIM Videos >>
In this episode of Simulated Reality, our founder and CEO, Bhasker Gupta, joins Mukund Raghunath, founder and CEO of Acies Global, to discuss the evolving landscape of data science and engineering. The conversation highlights the increasing need for collaboration between data scientists and engineers, encouraging a mindset shift to foster greater innovation.
AIM Events >>
Cypher 2024 USA
AIM is bringing Cypher 2024 to Silicon Valley! And we are all geared up, having just wrapped up the biggest AI conference in Bengaluru last month.
Where: Santa Clara, California. When: November 21-22, 2024
AI Bytes >>
ai coding tools disrupt coding workforce dynamics. embrace change, upskill adaptively.