Ask HN: Where are all the rockstar developers?

There’s currently an advert on the HN front page for a “rockstar” developer. It seems like a decade ago, everyone was hiring rockstars to write their software, but then the jobs dried up. What have all the rockstars been doing for the last few years? Have they all been unemployed, or happily settled in long-term jobs? And will they all be jumping on this latest job advert?

2 points | by plugin-baby 502 days ago

5 comments

  • Minor49er 502 days ago
    Those jobs are still around. But instead of "rockstar", "hacker", or "ninja", they're called things like "front end", "full stack", or "senior developer"
  • mikece 502 days ago
    Dylan Beattie created the language Rockstar specifically to screw with recruiters who were posting ads looking "Rockstar developers" -- and the tech world is a better place for it!

    https://codewithrockstar.com/

  • scombridae 502 days ago
    Where are all the rockstar developers?

    We're still here. We avoid identifying ourselves so 1x'ers like yourself don't know who to blame when they're made redundant.

  • icedchai 502 days ago
    Many of them are burned out. A combination of the pandemic, remote work fatigue, and agile/scrum BS drove a few of the "rock stars" I know into hiding...
    • Thetawaves 502 days ago
      That was by design wasn't it...
  • peruvian 502 days ago
    Someone that was a "rockstar" 10 years ago is probably in a high level IC or managerial role now.