Tabby Toney didn't set out to have a career in tech. She followed a friend into the industry, doing manual testing of software, with little prior experience and no clear idea of where she wanted the field to take her.
It didn't take long, though, for the Oklahoman to fall in love with the industry. "I loved tech because of the intellectual stimulation it provided. I enjoyed the creative problem-solving and critical thinking required to make things happen," she told Business Insider.
So she set to learning everything she could, taking virtual classes and studying in her downtime. Eventually, she became a software engineer in her own right.
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Things were going swimmingly until May, when Toney was laid off. It was something she'd seen coming, largely because of the direction the industry was heading with AI. Having financially prepared for the change, she initially intended to take a month off of work entirely in order to reset and decide what her next steps would be.
"But I don’t sit still very well," she said. "So I decided to take up welding."
"I didn’t want to start over again, but I also didn’t want to be bored," she explained to Business Insider. "I needed something to keep me engaged and feeling like I was contributing, but my tech job didn’t do that anymore."
Much like software engineering, Toney's choice to pursue welding wasn't super intentional. "I took welding in high school, and I remember running around as a kid in my grandpa’s garage, where he and my dad did it a bunch," she said.
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Once she got started, Toney found that the work mirrored some of her favorite things about software engineering. "I enjoy [welding] because it’s creative. However, metallurgy also involves knowing what to use and how to do it in certain situations, so there’s still a thinking aspect to it. I also like working with my hands," she said.
Despite her love for welding, her ultimate transition out of tech wasn't an easy decision. "Tech has always excited me," Toney said, before noting that the industry was wrestling with some real issues. "I think the problem is the industry's reliance on AI when it’s not ready yet. Also, a lot of decisions are being made by non-tech people who don’t fully understand how it affects the people who are writing the tech."
"With how the industry is now, I’m pretty happy with my decision. I thought I would be a nervous wreck forever, but I was ready. I feel so relieved now that I have left tech and have a new plan," she said.
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