What's Behind the Burnout Among Software Engineers?
Businesses need to figure out ways to get more people into the tech industry, upskill existing employees or deploy automation. The sector has been on fire, but the unabated growth has affected software engineers. Worse, developers and technologists might hang on but feel burned out, which becomes harmful to their mental well-being.
According to a recent survey by MuleSoft, a Salesforce company, 93% of respondents reported the Great Resignation has made it increasingly difficult to retain skilled developers. Another 86% say it has become more challenging to recruit software engineers in the last two years.
The lack of specialized tech talent could lead to a stifling of innovation and advancement. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the pivot to a digital era, and now, every company is a tech company. The blistering growth inundated software engineers and tech professionals with work. With tech workers in high demand, some overworked team members have started looking for other job opportunities, creating a downward spiral of attrition.
What is causing burnout among software engineers?
“The demand for digital solutions was already outpacing the supply of software developers before the pandemic, but now it’s through the roof. Churn caused by the Great Resignation is widening this gap even further,” explained Matt McLarty, the global chief technology officer and vice president of the digital transformation office at MuleSoft.
According to McLarty, some of the major issues impacting software engineers and other technologists include:
- Legacy software or technology
- Not enough people to meet the demand for tech roles
- Not enough time spent coding
Many organizations have legacy software that only the long-time veterans know how to navigate. New hires, no matter their smarts or experience, might have difficulty trying to figure out all of the idiosyncrasies. The experience can be discouraging, especially if they were hotshots at their previous company.
McLarty is a proponent of offering no- or low-code software to make the change easier for new software engineers.
He also says the unrelenting work might aggravate software engineers and prompt them to look elsewhere. The solution could be to get more people involved in tech. Coding bootcamps and online coding classes could be good opportunities for many people.
Finally, another often-overlooked challenge is that engineers might only code around 10% of the time. The rest of the day is dealing with repetitive mundane tasks that take them away from their core responsibilities. The result is frustrated employees, as they become further removed from what they love doing best.
How to relieve burnout among software engineers
McLarty suggests employers offer upskilling, coaching, mentoring and the ability to move laterally within the company to learn new skills and stretch themselves professionally.
“For organizations to truly transform digitally, they need to do two things: first, give developers user-friendly tools that maximize their productivity, and secondly, give the rest of the knowledge workers in the organization tools that empower them to become engaged in building digital solutions, not just documenting requirements,” McLarty said.
“We can’t expect a relatively small percentage of workers—software developers—to bear the brunt of mass digital production. We have to get the whole organization involved. Low-code tooling and automation technology are the means for doing that, and they’ve already been shown to improve employee satisfaction and reduce stress,” McLarty added.
This article was written by Jack Kelly for Forbes and was lightly edited and published with permission.