What happens to tech workers when their skills become obsolete?

If you were still trying to make a career in Flash development even ten years ago, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s hard to imagine a “tech worker” not able to see that writing on the wall long, long ago (and so my sympathy might be a bit lower).

Part of working in tech is that unless you are close enough to retirement that you have a clear glide path to ride your skills into the sunset, you need to be constantly learning/evolving.

There can be good money in obsolete skills but it’s like shooting the moon. You best be good at it and have a solid foundation for believing that organizations so fundamentally depend on that tech that it will be cheaper to pay you than to rebuild (looking at you, COBOL). Even then, I doubt those guys get to fully sit on their laurels (again, unless close to retirement).