> I assume it would be much more difficult to go from programming to medical microbiologist.

You are right - it takes you several years of training, whereas you can probably pick up the bits and bobs of programming in a few weeks, if you have any aptitude.

But the basic idea remains - if you are doing something you hate, stop doing it, no matter what the price. It isn't going to get any better.

I pretty much agree. Except if I stop doing it, it could get worse. I need to support my family.

There are also many adjacent jobs to development (or whatever) at a medium to large tech company. However, if it's that all the jobs or companies are bad (for you), you're probably going to need something really fundamentally different like some sort of trade. And that has its own set of downsides and is probably going to be a step down in compensation.

I've been looking at other jobs. I saw one for a business analyst. That seemed like a perfect fit until I was told it's really 75% project and stakeholder management. No thanks. Plus, it turns out most people in that group are Ivy League MBA holder (corporate strategy is apparently the path to the C suite).

This is what I've noticed in (as far as I can remember) all of the comments here that outline their career change. The career change... it's always _to_ programming, but never _away from_ programming. I sometimes feel burned out and like I'm solving the same problems over and over for different people, teams, etc. I mostly enjoy my work and usually the people I work with. I do end up reading comment threads like this one with some frequency and realizing not many people switch from software engineering to altogether different careers. I don't count switching to engineering adjacent roles among the things I'd be willing to switch to because my reasons for leaving are definitely not my lack of passion for technology and learning, but almost always trying to find/build a team I enjoy working with and not having to do the same non-programming things over and over again to improve my environment (people, workflow, pressures, etc).

I really wish there was a way to hop paths that didn't involve making ridiculously less money for many years, while likely having to deal with many of the same problems.

I frequently lament not choosing to go into marine biology, even though I know now that it would have been a far more challenging field and would still have (likely) resulted in far less income. Had I just started on that path, I believe I would not have cared much about the possibility of making more money in another field that I would have been skilled at. The last bit is clearly an assumption as you can't actually go back and do it all over to realize the possible outcome(s), but I can't imagine a life journey were I didn't enjoy programming, even if it wasn't my career focus.

And so here I am, in a place that I mostly still enjoy, dreaming of what could have been, assuring myself that I'm doing the right thing for myself and my family. It would be one thing to completely upend my own life (I still have the belief that I could do it if I were the only person affected), but to completely change the trajectory for my family and possibly the financial stability we enjoy... I guess that leaves me in the category of "overall happy enough" because my family more than makes up for my perceived benefits of getting out of the tech industry, which if not already clear, I love more than hate.

Wow... that's a lot of text and felt more therapeutic than anything to unload that. :) So frequently I'm reading these threads and keeping my thoughts to myself. If nothing else, I hope that maybe some others who believe they're in the same boat take note that they're not alone in this and I have at least 2 close friends who feel very similar to this (though I rarely admit, even to them, that I feel this way about my career).

whew