Hot take: only PMs need to code now. With Claude 4.6 Opus, the engineer skill set is no longer useful. Why are we hiring people with code writing ability when code writing ability has no value anymore?

> With Claude 4.6 Opus, the engineer skill set is no longer useful.

The most recent models have spooked me into believing this is a thing that is likely to be true at some point, but it ain't true yet.

This is kind of like the reverse of the sister comment, which I agree with: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47242699

The general point is that separating PM and eng doesn't make sense any longer. Which subsumes which is an interesting debate.

Your argument that 4.6 Opus makes the engineering skill set useless is totally false and maybe shows you haven't built anything complicated, but it is possible that Opus 5.2 will get there.

Pretty sure Claude Opus can do a PMs job too.

Hotter take: why even hire someone at all? Just dial up FOMO and threats, and pile up more work on peons that you own already.

Opposing Hot take (possibly missing the joke....):

Coding was never the most valuable skill a software engineer contributed. Socially-capable engineers are going to be far more likely than PMs to 'shine' when agents can write code and engineers are afforded more time to engage with busines/customers/stakeholder/domain experts.

If my experience is any reflection of the norm, the avg PMs greatest value has never come from effectively determining the value or requirement of a product or translating requests/feedback to meaningful deliverables. It's been in providing cover (time) for engineers that could do the same job better, but are irreplaceable in the development process and so are more rare/valuable spending time doing development. When engineers no longer need to write code, they are a more direct line to effectively solving "Product-Led" business needs with technical solutions than a typical PM will be.

Most seniors are hired for their code readability and real-life experiences with real products and problems. Not for code writing ability.

If that were true, why would they need a PM ether?

Agents would research and identify requirements on their own, observe customer interactions and monitor for trends. Taste.md downloaded via LoveFrom

Buddy, when the engineering skill set is "no longer useful" you'll be living in a cardboard box at least a couple of years before that ever happens.

LOL....thats more a cold one.

Just wait what you pay for the tokens when the enshittification has started and the bubble bursted. In some years you will see that no new engineers are coming along and your products are dying on edge cases that the AI can't handle all together.

Edit: Ok, don't got the sarcasm :D

> Why are we hiring people with code writing ability when code writing ability has no value anymore?

Is this sarcasm? You don't think there is any utility to understanding code?

Edit: you got me haha.