I am currently still working as a software engineer (19 years and counting) and trading part-time, although considering moving towards more trading over time, and possibly real estate investing or other pursuits as well.
Reasons engineers are attracted to trading:
The main reason: Engineering is not rewarded as a CAREER, there is no upside long-term and it is hard work.
1. Job security non-existent
Loyalty to any company is foolhardy. You will be laid off in a split second the minute some corporate bean-counter figures out there is a more desperate engineer who will work for less, somebody gets a kickback for doing outsourcing, or there is any kind of economic slowdown.
Your past dedication involving going beyond the call of duty to finish projects on or ahead of schedule, working through very difficult production issues, documenting designs, etc. will be completely ignored later.
Most well-paid engineers I know job-hopped every 2-3 years or even more frequently, or were contracting along the way also, or something besides working with one company.
2. Lucrative stock options non-existent now
About 5-10 years ago, there were a lot of startups and fast growing established tech companies that were rewarding engineers with decent stock options which provided a potential upside for continuing on with the company.
Now, with the hue and cry for "Stock Options Accounting", most companies response to that has been to cut back or eliminate any such broad stock option grants, and restrict them to upper management only. Even the existing options are frequently nearly worthless anyways because the tech stocks are not growing like they used to, and the stock prices are basically trading in a range.
3. Overtime expected with zero compensation for it
With many tech firms, there is often not-so-subtle pressure to work 50-60 hours a week as a way of life, rather than an occasional event in the life cycle when releasing a product. Those who don't do this are often fired, demoted, or otherwise penalized. If you have any kind of family life with a wife and kids, you will either be choosing to get a divorce or your career with be negatively impacted.
4. Pay is decent coming out of school, but plateaus quickly
Once you have about 5-10 years of experience in the job market, you will typically only see cost-of-living level increases in salary at best. Your reward for achieving 15-20 years of service is often a layoff because your salary has grown too expensive for the company.
5. Your Christmas/end-of-year bonus is non-existent or a joke
Unlike some financial industry jobs with substantial bonuses at the end of the year, you will often be given a 16 lb. turkey as a Christmas bonus, or perhaps some other chotsky type item like a windbreaker, a company catered "holiday meal", etc. If you see any money for a bonus, it will probably not reach past 3 figures.
6. There is no technical path past 10 years
You will be pressured to move into management, paperwork-oriented supervisory roles after about 10 years. For this "promotion", you will inherit a largely thankless busy job which can even more quickly be eliminated in a layoff. You also get the bonus of dealing with hiring and firing people, writing performance reviews, organizing and holding endless meetings to discuss work that other people are doing, and wasting your creativity in dealing with HR issues and budgets.
If you insist on remaining technical, you will be treated as some sort of nutty professor or something, and will basically be disrespected. Your layoff is assured within 3 years of refusing to go the "management route".
Considering all of this, being an engineer is basically a similar amount of risk to trading, except there is no unlimited upside potential.
