How Engineering Managers Can Address Developer Burnout: Insights from the 2024 Stack Overflow Survey

September 23, 2024

As a Software Engineering Manager, it's impossible to ignore the results of the recent 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, which revealed git psome interesting statistics: 80% of developers are unhappy with their jobs. Many report feeling burnt out and demoralized, attributing their dissatisfaction to a range of issues including unrealistic expectations, crushing technical debt, bureaucratic red tape, and a lack of work-life balance. These findings reflect challenges many of us have likely encountered in our own teams, but they also present an opportunity for us as managers to make meaningful changes that can help alleviate these concerns.

Understanding the Developer’s Experience

Burnout is more than just a "feeling tired" problem; it’s a culmination of stressors that push developers beyond their breaking points. As engineering managers, our role goes beyond merely assigning tasks; we need to take active steps in shaping the work environment, ensuring it's one that fosters productivity and well-being, not exhaustion.

Here are key strategies we can implement to improve developer job satisfaction:

1. Set Realistic Expectations

One of the major contributors to developer dissatisfaction is unrealistic expectations. Developers often feel trapped in a cycle of never-ending work, with new projects or deadlines piling on before they’ve had a chance to recover from the last sprint. To combat this:

  • Clear, manageable timelines: Make sure that your deadlines are based on accurate estimates, not wishful thinking. Empower your team to provide input on timelines and push back when expectations are misaligned with reality. Advocacy and negotiation are essential to manage timelines for initiatives for your team.

  • Buffer for the unknown: Software development is unpredictable. Build in flexibility and avoid rigid deadlines that don’t account for potential blockers. Be realistic that things are not always going to to as planned and use historical data to look at what a reasonable buffer looks like for your teams.

  • Scope prioritization: Help your team focus on what’s most important. Ask yourself, “What’s the minimum viable product (MVP)?” and guide your team to focus on delivering essential features first. I think that this is super important, as it can be easy to fall into the trap of scoping way beyond what is needed and then setting the expectation that all the things that have fallen into the now bloated scope will be required.

2. Tackle Technical Debt

Nothing demoralizes a developer faster than feeling like they’re constantly firefighting legacy code or endlessly patching up a system that’s barely holding together. Technical debt often accumulates in fast-paced development environments, but ignoring it can cripple team morale. Like an iceberg, it can also sink a project in the long term. What can you do?

  • Dedicated time for refactoring: Make refactoring and paying down technical debt a part of your sprint planning. Even small, consistent efforts toward reducing debt can make a big difference over time. Work with product to help them understand why budgeting some capacity on a regular basis is essential for tackling technical debt.

  • Prioritize code quality: Encourage practices such as pair programming, code reviews, and testing to help reduce future debt and improve maintainability. Work on helping the organization and team understand what the standards for quality are and then holding each other accountable for that.

  • Automate routine processes: Invest in automation wherever possible—whether it’s CI/CD pipelines, code linting, or testing—to free up your developers to focus on more meaningful work. Automation should be one of the driving principles of effective software delivery.

3. Reduce Bureaucratic Obstacles

Bureaucratic hurdles can take many forms: excessive meetings, redundant processes, slow decision-making chains, or having to seek approval for every small change. These roadblocks stifle creativity and innovation, leaving developers frustrated.

  • Streamline processes: Cut down on unnecessary meetings and promote asynchronous communication where possible. Encourage the use of tools like Slack or Jira to keep updates concise. I find it helpful to ask for feedback on cyclical meetings to those attending: "Is this working for you? Are we getting benefit from meeting like this? Should we skip, delete, or change this meeting?"

  • Empower teams: Give your developers the autonomy to make decisions without having to navigate endless approvals. Trusting your team builds their confidence and reduces delays. How do you do that? Show them that you trust them to make good decisions, encourage them to innovate with reason, and commend them when they have taken the initiative to solve problems.

  • Adopt Agile principles: Agile methodologies encourage collaboration and minimize the “red tape” that can bog down projects. Ensure you’re implementing these principles effectively, with a focus on team empowerment and iterative progress.

4. Promote Work-Life Balance

The "always-on" culture has taken a toll on developers. Long hours, late-night deployments, and the expectation to be reachable at all times are leading factors in burnout.

  • Set boundaries: Encourage your team to disconnect outside of working hours. Ensure they have the support to take vacation days or time off without feeling guilty or overburdened when they return. I encourage my team members NOT to be logged in after hours or on weekends unless they are part of the on-call rotation schedule. I monitor vacation time available for team members and talk to them about being proactive to take time away from work, even if it just for some mental health days.

  • Flexible schedules: Offer flexibility in working hours to accommodate individual preferences and lifestyles. Whether it's remote work or non-traditional working hours, allow developers the freedom to find a balance that works for them.

  • Mental health support: Be proactive in supporting your team’s mental health. Provide access to resources, whether that’s professional counseling services, stress management workshops, or simply creating an open dialogue around mental health. Being open and honest about your own challenges and what you have learned about what helps you to maintain good mental health can contribute to removing the stigma at times associated with this topic.

Moving Forward

While the findings from the Stack Overflow survey paint a sobering picture of developer dissatisfaction, they also offer a clear path for improvement. As engineering managers, we’re uniquely positioned to implement changes that not only boost productivity but also address the core reasons developers feel unhappy or burnt out.

At the end of the day, a satisfied and engaged developer is not only more productive but also more likely to stay with your organization long-term, contributing to overall team stability and success. If we focus on creating an environment where developers can thrive—one that respects their time, their need for work-life balance, and their professional growth—we’ll not only improve our teams’ well-being but also the quality of the work we produce.


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Written by Blake Martin Software Engineering Manager You should follow them on Twitter