Software engineers are burning out according to a new study.
A Haystack Analytics study found that 83 percent of software developers suffer from workplace burnout. The top reasons cited for burnout included high workload (47 percent), inefficient process (31 percent) alongside unclear goals and targets (29 percent).
Engineering productivity business co-ordinated the study which found burnout has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 81 percent of developers reporting increased burnout due to the pandemic. The top reason cited by developers for greater feelings of burnout during the pandemic was increased workload. The study also finds that 83 percent of developers were concerned about software reliability at their workplace, of which 20 percent are concerned to a great extent.
Leading the research exercise, computer scientist Junade Ali said: “Whether allowing us to stay connected or building vaccine booking systems, software developers have played a key role during the pandemic. The results show that developer burnout is far worse than I imagined when I designed this study. Given the ever-greater role software plays in society and the high rate of concern developers have for software reliability in their workplaces, this raises serious concerns about the quality of software that plays an integral role in our everyday lives and critical national infrastructure.”
Technology continues to drive high-growth companies. For example; technology-focused Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has grown 151.37 percent over a three year period as of the 1 July 2021, the highest three-year performance of any FTSE 100 company.
The importance of well-being is underscored by the number of developers needed to sustain the fast-growing technology industry. Statistica finds2 there are around 408,000 software developers in the UK alone. By 2024, Statistica estimates the global population of software developers will grow to 28.7 million.
Netflix developer productivity director Kathryn Koehler said the results showed that “you can’t capture the productivity of a team in one metric”, and it was important to measure team well-being alongside productivity metrics.
Koehler said Netflix was starting to develop its own approach to measuring developer productivity internally by “starting small, but starting on something that is impactful; and then not stopping there – continuing to think about productivity, satisfaction and the other stuff in context”.
