There is no shortage of coders.
There is no shortage of good coders.
There is no shortage of bad coders.

What there is a shortage of, is coders who will code for free.

Then how is there an ongoing, near-hysterical barrage of articles, publications, documentaries, think pieces, summits, and schools designed to finally find some coders?

Now you're starting to see how power works. There is a large array of very powerful interests -- namely, big business -- who rely on labor, be it coding, farming, etc., and they will never stop claiming 'shortage' until their workers/robots work for free.

It doesn't have to be true -- in fact, if it was true, the ongoing propaganda campaign would still be carried out -- to prevent the shortage from ever becoming true. 'Wage inflation' is scarier than actual death to the rich.

This is why real wages have been stagnant or dropping across all sectors of the US economy for decades now. The coder population is no different than any other sector.

Just like there were hyper-successful African-American slaves back in the day, there are hyper-successful wage slaves today -- that's not an argument for slavery, nor wage-slavery -- they are exceptions to the rule.

Just do some simple googling about the myriad ways that the FAANG companies and others illegally suppress wages, and always have. You just have to be a realist and put yourself in the shoes of the owners -- would you want to pay some lazy-ass to code? Nope!

All that said, can you learn and get a job? Yes, especially if you pick the right technologies. Coding? Maybe if you specialize in a difficult coding platform (iOS, for instance) and get really good at it, you can wiggle your way into a low-paying job, then work your way up.

But coding, and most other human tech, is going away. Low- and No-code environments, devops, ai, etc. -- there's no real guarantee what jobs will be available in the future.

And if you're already over 30, without coding experience? Ouch. Age discrimination alone will keep you out.

God forbid you are black, female, etc. Tech is hella racist and sexist, especially in the bigger, 'enlightened' cities/metros.

I would not even want to be in your shoes if you're 18, had been coding since you were 10, went to a coding bootcamp and got AWS-certified -- the clock would be ticking right away, and the competition from senior engineers, other entry-level folks, university degrees, those with actually-good university degrees (Harvard, Stanford, etc.), visa-holders, outsourcing (literally the entire world can do your job, for 1/10th the cost, and remote work tech is getting better all the time), career-switchers, etc.

Granted, much of that is true of most jobs, not just coders.

And then once you get a job you'll be treated like garbage, because that's just how techies, generally, are treated. Coders get it the worst, imo.

I do really like that you can create something from scratch even if you are not, say, useful with your hands in any other way. You'll probably never succeed in building an app that makes real money (according to stats), etc., but you can at least try, hustle, etc., and the barriers to building an app and getting it in the app store are relatively low.

The ultimate comeback to anyone suggesting there is a shortage of coders is to ask them how much coding salaries are going up year over year. If they say anything > 0, they're lying. Simple.

You'll often see stories surfaced here on HN or on Reddit talking about 'entry level' qualifications for a coding job, making $15/hr for masters degree, speak Mandarin, etc. -- they're essentially fake listings.

Or just post your own job ad to craigslist or Linkedin and watch the hundreds/thousands of resumes pour in.

Good luck. I'd recommend sales. Not tech sales, just sales. If it happens to be in tech, fine, but sales people can get jobs, tech people? Good luck.