A sustainable web career, for when all this blows over

The web industry is undergoing a rough, partly irrational phase that threatens long-term careers, so don’t quit without a fallback - wait it out and use the time to sharpen enduring, scarce skills. Prioritize accessibility as a core practice (not a post-hoc feature): learn guidelines, test with real people, and work with specialists. Deep CSS expertise matters again; understand modern features like cascade layers and improved selectors, and resist the lure of CSS-in-JS abstractions that harm performance and hide complexity. Strengthen communication: learn brevity, ask the right questions, address issues tactfully, and document decisions so teams stay aligned. Also recognise and oppose rising far-right influence in tech communities; silence enables harm and risks pushing people out of the field.

Equally important is what to abandon. Treat React as a legacy, over-generated ecosystem not worth heavy new investment despite lingering job ads. Move away from hosting everything on major platforms: prefer self-hosted git forges such as Forgejo, gate access with Tailscale-style tools, run CI/CD independently or locally, and learn basic git and infrastructure skills. Ignore influencer-driven hype that promotes closed, paywalled novelties for a small elite. Return to human-centered web practices, drop accumulated cruft from boom times, and position yourself with practical, principled skills for when demand rebounds.