The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf] • Hacker News Board

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#31

Post by wpietri » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:43 PM UTC

sbarre wrote: post #29

wpietri wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not sure that even if I worked for a non-profit doing work I thought was important that it would translate to my own job being something I wanted to do. Hi! I've worked for a few non-profits over the years. They are no panacea! Many businesses at least have a clear success mode: do good things for people and they'll pay you so you can do more good things for them. But the business model of many non-profits is s…

I have also found that non-profits can become a home to "useless zealots", a perhaps unkind but in my experience accurate term. They work there because they really believe in the non-profit's cause, but they are not good at their job. They are either loved or tolerated by leadership because of their belief in the cause, but typically cause more problems than they fix, and can be very difficult to deal with.

Ooh, interesting. I haven't seen that, but totally get how it happens.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#32

Post by AlwaysRock » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

pmoriarty wrote: post #13

Things contributing to my own (severe) burnout: 1 - Lack of variety, leading to boredom. After decades in the industry, I'm super bored with the things I know, and not in the least bit interested in learning more technical minutia of whatever flavor... pretty much all of it feels the same. The things I'm still interested in (like Scheme) are pretty obscure, so I'm unlikely to ever get to work with them. I hate all th…

I had a great eng job at a tiny consulting company. Very relaxed. No pressure other than the occasional state deadline. We just used meh tech and the pay was 25%+ lower than what you would expect.

It was perfect but if the salary was better I probably would have stayed for 10 years. Much of the staff had.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#33

Post by throwaway22032 » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:46 PM UTC

lumost wrote: post #6

Something that doesn't seem explored here is the effect of working on ineffective work. Everyone will encounter something like the following in their career 1. There is a problem that your customers and you face - but you are not allowed to solve it for "Reasons" 2. The product area will never work, but you must continue working on things that no one will ever use for "reasons". Ever write exhaustive test coverage fo…

I'd say this is essentially the cause of burnout in, well, life in general.

The same applies to any sustained pursuit, be it a hobby, work, relationship (romantic or otherwise), family relations, etc.

If you constantly bash your head against a wall and factors outside of your control conspire to mean that you make no or little progress and receive no or little reward then you need to stop.

Burnout is your body's way of forcing you if you persist.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#34

Post by AlwaysRock » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #25

candiddevmike wrote: post #9

From what I've seen, across the industry, the folks who are burnt out are almost entirely individual contributors. You rarely see burnout in management, and it's typically in the form of folks who want to go back to being ICs/tried management and hated it. I think companies really need to work on reducing or eliminating the amount of bullshit ICs have to deal with vs management (time tracking, status updates, on call…

I think this is true. Management will shred through IC engineers, getting results but burning alot of them out in the process. Theres no accountability, and in some respects, its good business for them. They get the work done, the burnout really doesnt have that many repercussions. The overarching issue is: you need stability/healthy employees at the higher levels, at the lower levels it doesnt matter. You cant have…

It's actually terrible business because constantly having to hire, train, and ramp up new engineers takes up so much more time than retaining staff would. But no one wants to hear that when X needs to be released by Y and we can make that happen if our engs just work a little harder/longer.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#35

Post by AlwaysRock » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

runnerup wrote: post #7

It ends with a sales pitch for a manual to reduce burnout by paying attention to 16 dimensions. This document provides no solutions for workplace burnout.

It's called the state of burnout in tech, not the solution to burnout in tech.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#36

Post by H8crilA » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 5:48 PM UTC

I had problems with this in 2022, so I wonder: what's the trend here? I do suspect that work from home has some effects that kick in with a significant delay, perhaps even more than a year after you go remotely.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#37

Post by CalRobert » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 6:00 PM UTC

The world is burning, carbon emissions are increasing despite a global pandemic, democracy is in backslide, and I'm doing stupid shit that really doesn't matter. My children will grow up in a hotter, thirstier, more dangerous world. Nothing I'm doing is going to improve this.

My job is cush. I work remote. I make good money. But I stare blankly at the screen and just can't bring myself to care. I eye climatebase and naturetech a lot, though.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#38

Post by PennRobotics » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 6:04 PM UTC

I'll self-select high risk. My factors:

  * Kids and the number of illnesses they bring home to share with me
  * A few major projects constantly interrupted by "small" support requests (or sick days)
  * Failing to understand a very complicated source tree

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#39

Post by lupire » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 6:05 PM UTC

lumost wrote: post #6

Something that doesn't seem explored here is the effect of working on ineffective work. Everyone will encounter something like the following in their career 1. There is a problem that your customers and you face - but you are not allowed to solve it for "Reasons" 2. The product area will never work, but you must continue working on things that no one will ever use for "reasons". Ever write exhaustive test coverage fo…

Great specific examples of burnout, which generally is the feeling that nothing you can do is worthwhile, so the optimal choice is to do nothing.

"I'll do this nonsense because I need the paycheck" is a way to avoid burnout, unless you already have enough money for your needs that money can buy.

Re: The state of burnout in tech, 2022 edition [pdf]

#40

Post by SkyPuncher » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 6:05 PM UTC

candiddevmike wrote: post #9

From what I've seen, across the industry, the folks who are burnt out are almost entirely individual contributors. You rarely see burnout in management, and it's typically in the form of folks who want to go back to being ICs/tried management and hated it. I think companies really need to work on reducing or eliminating the amount of bullshit ICs have to deal with vs management (time tracking, status updates, on call…

> You rarely see burnout in management

I see it all the time. The difference is management can often delegate the tasks they're most burnt out on to others.