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Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

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Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#21

Post by jxidjhdhdhdhfhf »

antris wrote: post #7
notjustanymike wrote: post #3

A bit clickbaity, as it's referring to the only first question in their study ( https://haystack-books.s3.amazonaws.com/Study+to+understand+... ) which further breaks down into: I feel burnt out from work: - 21% to a great extent - 34% to a moderate extent - 28% to a small extent

Being even slightly burnt out should be alarming. Some people don't even acknowledge their burning out before they become unable to work and fall into depression. It's not normal to feel this way. Being burnt out is not just regular tiredness, it's a mental health issue.

But do the study's participants understand that definition of burnout? Burnout, the way its casually thrown around these days, seems to be synonymous with regular tiredness in casual conversation.

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#22

Post by macksd »

antris wrote: post #7
notjustanymike wrote: post #3

A bit clickbaity, as it's referring to the only first question in their study ( https://haystack-books.s3.amazonaws.com/Study+to+understand+... ) which further breaks down into: I feel burnt out from work: - 21% to a great extent - 34% to a moderate extent - 28% to a small extent

Being even slightly burnt out should be alarming. Some people don't even acknowledge their burning out before they become unable to work and fall into depression. It's not normal to feel this way. Being burnt out is not just regular tiredness, it's a mental health issue.

Does everyone interpret the question as something that's headed towards being so depressed you're unable to work? Or would a lot of people interpret "I feel somewhat burnt out" as "I would enjoy a vacation and not needing to be productive".

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#24

Post by Verdex »

varelaz wrote: post #16

Developers are getting too spoiled. Did someone do the same research for teachers for example.

If it turned out that teachers (and everyone else) also have an ~80% burnout rate, then that only shows a more fundamental problem. Not that anyone is being spoiled.

And it's okay if that starts by finding out that developers have a ~80% burnout rate. To be fair, you are at least correct that we should run the same study against teachers. (And really as many other people as we can find the time/money for.)

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#25

Post by warent »

debt wrote: post #13
titzer wrote: post #2

If you were a professional painter and every couple of months, someone snuck into your art studio, threw out all your brushes, paint, canvas, and then dumped a huge load of requests for you to "fix" your old paintings, I'm pretty sure you'd get burned out pretty quick.

Stop using esoteric tools and trendy frameworks and use more robust solutions. That might prevent the burnout.

Did you retire from engineering? Esoteric tools can certainly be a problem but that's a tiny portion of the pool of people who experience this. Technology in general changes all the time

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#26

Post by dahfizz »

danpalmer wrote: post #9

Are software developers any different from other professions with regards to burnout?

Yes, we have the disposal income to take a few months off work when we want to and can spend that extra time writing blog posts about how hard life is.

Everyone else just sucks it up.

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#27

Post by arriu »

briefcomment wrote: post #5
titzer wrote: post #2

If you were a professional painter and every couple of months, someone snuck into your art studio, threw out all your brushes, paint, canvas, and then dumped a huge load of requests for you to "fix" your old paintings, I'm pretty sure you'd get burned out pretty quick.

Is maintenance the cause of burnout then?

This is a really great question, I'd love to know how to minimize my own burnout. It's likely not just maintenance as I've felt burned out on brand new projects that have no maintenance.

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#28

Post by titzer »

chickenpotpie wrote: post #17
titzer wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you name another profession that throws out its tools so often?

That’s not an answer to their question

Their reply was a non sequitur because they didn't understand the analogy.

But anyway most "fixes" are really just changing systems to adapt to change in other systems. I spent 3+ years at Google just migrating this and that and the other subsystem to a different datastore, and knew dozens if not hundreds of developers stuck on a treadmill of constantly rewriting to adapt to other people's rewrites.

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#29

Post by luffapi »

codyswann wrote: post #6

This is why I have a tough time putting much weight into the soft-sciences. I don't see any operational definition of "Burnout" so this is like asking people if they feel "fast". How about something like "How many times a week do you feel like not coming into work?" But these subjective terms are useless.

You should be able to measure burnout by watching employee churn. Something software development is notorious for. I don’t think people jump companies every year and a half in most industries.

Re: Study finds 83% of software developers feel burnout

#30

Post by Someone »

antris wrote: post #12
codyswann wrote: post #6

This is why I have a tough time putting much weight into the soft-sciences. I don't see any operational definition of "Burnout" so this is like asking people if they feel "fast". How about something like "How many times a week do you feel like not coming into work?" But these subjective terms are useless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_burnout Burnout is not just a subjective term. It is a highly researched syndrome and can be tested for.

Yes, but I doubt those questioned knew and used that definition. Reading https://haystack-books.s3.amazonaws.com/Study+to+understand+... it certainly wasn’t tested for.

It’s all self-reported, and the question didn’t even ask whether the subjects thought they were burnt out, just whether they felt like it (for me, that’s a weaker thing)

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