More job cuts at Derivco

[Daniel Puchert]

More job cuts at prominent South African software development company

South African software development company Derivco has offered staff voluntary retrenchment packages with 24-hour notice, MyBroadband has learned.

The company has confirmed that it has begun another wave of layoffs, but did not answer questions about how many people are impacted and how much time they were given to consider the offer.

 

[koeks525]

It is interesting seeing a few SA companies join the global wave of tech layoffs. At least, in a cynical manner, SA firms are not losing out on the global craze

Really sad news. 2025 has not been a good year, from a job market perspective. I hope that the people who get retrenched are kind to themselves and do look after themselves. Let this be a lesson to employees (myself included)... take your financial health seriously. The only job security is financial security.

 

[dontcryforme]

AI eating dev jobs

 

[Quicks]

Sounds like a terrible company.

"Derivco has offered staff voluntary retrenchment packages with 24-hour notice, MyBroadband has learned."

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Sounds like a terrible company.

"Derivco has offered staff voluntary retrenchment packages with 24-hour notice, MyBroadband has learned."

sounds a lot like dead cat didata,

weren't they also "best employer" at one stage, or are those "best employer" just a bunch of horse droppings, like everything with big flashy marketing budgets.

 

[zll]

AI.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

AI.

was watching a documentary about learn to code, and the relentless pushing of people into Coding,
bet you they feel like dunces now when they are let go of when the company has some hardships.
all cause of Ai or the fact to be any good at programming takes years if not months of solid work

not pick it up from a book and a coding boot camp.

 

[mpdjhb]

So - any devs out there with Python skills looking for work? DMs

 

[koeks525]

sounds a lot like dead cat didata,

weren't they also "best employer" at one stage, or are those "best employer" just a bunch of horse droppings, like everything with big flashy marketing budgets.

I do recall their name being associated with the "SA best Employer". Yes, all of that is nothing more than flashy marketing. I do recall they had an OfferZEN event a few years back (2019 I think) and the CEO then was to talk about their past "competitive" working environment.

In any case, I do think everyone should tread cautiously - financial health should be everyone's top priority.

was watching a documentary about learn to code, and the relentless pushing of people into Coding,
bet you they feel like dunces now when they are let go of when the company has some hardships.
all cause of Ai or the fact to be any good at programming takes years if not months of solid work

not pick it up from a book and a coding boot camp.

Yip. Anything to make a quick profit.

 

[Corelli]

Chinese developers are on their way in to replace all the Indian developers ironically. The Chinese have been studying their asses off.

 

[vic777]

AI.

Since when? Are you one of the affected people, or guessing?

I've worked in IT for more than 2 decades, SA and Europe. Haven't had a single co-worker replaced by AI. We use AI and I don't see any professional developer replaced by AI anytime soon.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Since when? Are you one of the affected people, or guessing?

I've worked in IT for more than 2 decades, SA and Europe. Haven't had a single co-worker replaced by AI. We use AI and I don't see any professional developer replaced by AI anytime soon.

problem with emerging technology, is nobody thinks its gonna take their Job,

until it does, and often it happens quite suddenly and without warning.

case in point, CAD designers, or those who studied Drafting with slide rules and such,
how many of them are left? none, as CAD design took their work extreamly quickly, and silently.

same will happen with all the programmers, who worked so hard to get good at computer code,
typed tons and spend hours at it, and then Ai will come out of nowhere, and with a few commands
will develop an entire program/Module at the drop of a hat, and have it ready almost as quickly.

 

[vic777]

problem with emerging technology, is nobody thinks its gonna take their Job,

until it does, and often it happens quite suddenly and without warning.

case in point, CAD designers, or those who studied Drafting with slide rules and such,
how many of them are left? none, as CAD design took their work extreamly quickly, and silently.

same will happen with all the programmers, who worked so hard to get good at computer code,
typed tons and spend hours at it, and then Ai will come out of nowhere, and with a few commands
will develop an entire program/Module at the drop of a hat, and have it ready almost as quickly.

Except, that I am in this specific industry and use AI daily. Don't fall for the over-hyped media articles on AI

Programming and computer science has more to it than "typing tons". People who work in tech embrace the changes and change with it.

 

[Supervan II]

problem with emerging technology, is nobody thinks its gonna take their Job,

until it does, and often it happens quite suddenly and without warning.

And typists.

There was literally a large office full of typists at every business. Until there was none due to the PC.

I remember walking into such a typists' office in 1989 (Transnet), where my cousin was working, and mentioned to her that I thought she should consider the fact that her job would be replaced soon enough. A couple of months later (1990) she took a voluntary retrenchment package and started working at an attorney's office closer to home. She eventually retired there.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Except, that I am in this specific industry and use AI daily. Don't fall for the over-hyped media articles on AI

Programming and computer science has more to it than "typing tons". People who work in tech embrace the changes and change with it.

I heard you, and for a while I Almost went into Coding myself, found it boring and dull and very tedious,
if you persevered and made something of it, well done to you, and for a while there was tons of these "learn to code"
bootcamps and seminars and courses and so on, and I was pressured very much into trying it out and making a career out of it.

gave it a fair go, tried my Had at Delphi and pascal and didnt enjoy it, and now we have come full circle where
Ai will initially start out as a assistant of sorts,

but eventually, I will be able make a program to do X for me, and it will write out all the code necessary for it to happen, no sitting and writing lines out, and compiling and testing as you go along,

will it take jobs, you betcha, just a matter of time, especially as the technology evolves,
just like our friends in Draughting and Typing ect..

 

[genetic]

AI taking over!

 

[ToxicBunny]

I heard you, and for a while I Almost went into Coding myself, found it boring and dull and very tedious,
if you persevered and made something of it, well done to you, and for a while there was tons of these "learn to code"
bootcamps and seminars and courses and so on, and I was pressured very much into trying it out and making a career out of it.

gave it a fair go, tried my Had at Delphi and pascal and didnt enjoy it, and now we have come full circle where
Ai will initially start out as a assistant of sorts,

but eventually, I will be able make a program to do X for me, and it will write out all the code necessary for it to happen, no sitting and writing lines out, and compiling and testing as you go along,

will it take jobs, you betcha, just a matter of time, especially as the technology evolves,
just like our friends in Draughting and Typing ect..

Will AI be able to write code from prompts, yes. Will it be able to write a complete solution from some basic prompts, no not anytime soon and even when it can those solutions will be shyte.

 

[longboy]

Will AI be able to write code from prompts, yes. Will it be able to write a complete solution from some basic prompts, no not anytime soon and even when it can those solutions will be shyte.

It's getting there quickly. Deepseek is almost there in this regard.

 

[zll]

Since when? Are you one of the affected people, or guessing?

I've worked in IT for more than 2 decades, SA and Europe. Haven't had a single co-worker replaced by AI. We use AI and I don't see any professional developer replaced by AI anytime soon.

Guessing, but it wouldn't surprise me. Some companies in other industries have either frozen positions or laid people off and then spread their work around with the remaining workers who use AI to make up for the lack of staff.

Not saying the above is a good idea, but it's definitely happening. See Duo Lingo.

 

[vic777]

Will AI be able to write code from prompts, yes. Will it be able to write a complete solution from some basic prompts, no not anytime soon and even when it can those solutions wil

This ^^

Guessing, but it wouldn't surprise me. Some companies in other companies in other industries have either frozen positions or laid people off and then spread their work around with the remaining workers who use AI to make up for the lack of staff.

Not saying the above is a good idea, but it's definitely happening. See Duo Lingo.

The economy isn't great, not in SA, not worldwide. Doesn't mean AI is to blame