New Women Are Returning to Coding Careers Changed by AI

When Danielle became a new mother, her career changed dramatically.

Danielle, who asked that her name not be used to protect her job prospects, worked as a programmer at an automotive company in Portland, Oregon. Before they retire in 2024, no one has used AI to write code; when he was ready to return, after a year, it was waiting. Once upon a time, they were attracted by the job security documents offered, but AI was threatening to end this. “The skills I learned – development skills – are now expected to be applied to AI,” says Danielle.

The world’s biggest AI companies look forward to a future where everything will be “vibe-code.” In April, Mark Zuckerberg predicted that AI would write Meta information within the next 18 months. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently he told WIRED he expects AI writing to become “one of the rare multi-billion dollar markets.”

A surprising change has occurred involved programmers across the industry. But the consequences are especially painful for new moms who, due to the changing times, are away from their desks while the transition takes place.

Danielle said: “I loved doing the job I did before.” “But I know there won’t be any more jobs.”

Managers of major AI labs are involved he warned that technology could wipe out white-collar jobs, from law to finance to business consulting. But it is only a few industries carved similar to software development.

It is the release of machine tools Written by Anthropic and OpenAI in May 2025, this section became less about design and more about parenting. Learning this new way of working isn’t too difficult, but new moms face the backlog of their peers who have benefited from the start.

A UK project manager on maternity leave tells WIRED her manager decided to use AI while she was out and about. “It made me feel less affected,” says the woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals from her employer, a development agency. Before it took off, workers used AI ad hoc, often for small tasks like automatically generating lines of code written by humans. But the agency is eager for AI to play a bigger role, he says.

“The chances of me spending my maternity money on an AI course … are slim,” he says. “This is not something I should spend my time waiting for.” But he worries that going back could make him a target for layoffs.

Mary McCreary, a data scientist who works at a US technology company, says her employer helped her get used to new AI tools when she returned to work. At first skeptical of AI, McCreary discovered its ability to explain the work of co-workers’ codes. He said: “The thing I hate most about being an engineer is seeing other people’s rules.

But technology has changed the way this work is done. “The bad thing is that I don’t have time to do boring things that don’t take a toll on my brain,” McCreary said.

One programmer, who lives in Minnesota and works at an advertising firm, tells WIRED that AI writing tools have helped him keep up with his colleagues when he’s suffering from fatigue and other post-traumatic symptoms. “I wasn’t ready to go back,” says the engineer, who asked not to be named to speak openly about his company’s use of AI. “Your body is flooded with all these hormones and your brain changes to prepare for that baby.” The ability to offload tasks that require deep and continuous optimization — such as error correction — to AI “was very helpful,” he says.