> I've been coding for half my life, out of pure interest for the building things and never got into it for the money.
This gives you years of valuable experience and insights your colleagues won't have as they switch in from finance.
> CS career being obviously a good choice and every smart kid I know majoring in it, mostly for the cash, honestly makes me worried about the future of the field in terms of whether it'll still be a good career in the future.
It's been this way for ages. What the folks switching in don't realize is those folks won't get hired at a FAANG because people like you have a decade of experience on them, and there's only so many spots. So long as there's more folks like you than spots the rest is noise.
> I think smart people will do good work, just for the wrong reasons ($) and this might impact the field negatively.
Only if they get hired :) Once you're aboard you get to help shape who makes it in after you. If this is something you're passionate about, get involved in recruiting and hiring. Bring in the folks with non-traditional backgrounds who are amazing, and leave the switchers aside.
> In 5 years maybe things will still be okay, but if the trend continues for 10 years? Will CS become unsustainable hours like working in the quantitive funds or unsustainable competition and workload like in medicine, or both?
It already is. It's been like this forever, and will likely remain like this anywhere competitive, and at every start-up. Work-life balance is lip-service at most companies certainly as you level up (exponentially more so the smaller the company).
This gives you years of valuable experience and insights your colleagues won't have as they switch in from finance.
> CS career being obviously a good choice and every smart kid I know majoring in it, mostly for the cash, honestly makes me worried about the future of the field in terms of whether it'll still be a good career in the future.
It's been this way for ages. What the folks switching in don't realize is those folks won't get hired at a FAANG because people like you have a decade of experience on them, and there's only so many spots. So long as there's more folks like you than spots the rest is noise.
> I think smart people will do good work, just for the wrong reasons ($) and this might impact the field negatively.
Only if they get hired :) Once you're aboard you get to help shape who makes it in after you. If this is something you're passionate about, get involved in recruiting and hiring. Bring in the folks with non-traditional backgrounds who are amazing, and leave the switchers aside.
> In 5 years maybe things will still be okay, but if the trend continues for 10 years? Will CS become unsustainable hours like working in the quantitive funds or unsustainable competition and workload like in medicine, or both?
It already is. It's been like this forever, and will likely remain like this anywhere competitive, and at every start-up. Work-life balance is lip-service at most companies certainly as you level up (exponentially more so the smaller the company).