There are two types of people — those that think there is more to work than life and those who think there is more to life than work

The last year has seen developers resigning in great number, it didn’t seem developers were resigning but taking advantage of the increased demand for developers to get better jobs for more money.

Now we are reaching a new stage of the great resignation, developers getting off the hamster wheel of development and taking a break.

The stages of the great developer resignation

Below are the stages of the great developer resignation

1. Remote working — meeting overload, burnout
2. Increase in remote working leads to an increase in demand for software and an increase in demand for developers
3. Developers move jobs to get better roles and better pay
4. Developers take sabbaticals

Stage 1 — Covid and remote working

Covid hit the world and resulted in most developers working remotely and most other roles to work remotely. Companies quickly created software to enable as many roles as possible to work remotely.

The big change in remote working was an explosion in teams/zoom meetings. My calendar become so full of meetings that some days I struggled to find time to get lunch. I invested in some bluetooth headphones so I could get food and drinks.

The increase in meetings had a serious effect on developers, it lead to them having less time for development. The increase in meeting time and decrease in development time should have been reflected in longer deadlines on software projects (HO HO) but guess what, it wasn’t.

Is Meeting Overload the Cause of Increased Burnout in Developers?

There are several reasons remote working created an increase in developer burnout, the key ones

Increased meeting time, reduced time for development, developers make up time in their own time. The short term to work more hours results in the long-term problem of burnout.

The stress of covid will have contributed. Less social interaction can make people feel more lonely. Working from home has fewer natural stopping points, which result in longer working hours.

The overall effect of covid and remote working was reduction in the quality of life outside of work. The increase of work pressure eventually wears people down and leads to an increase probability of burnout.

Stage 2 — Increase demand for software and developers

This increase in remote working, accelerate companies' digitisation plans and increases demand for software. This sped up the growth in low-code software development (creating apps with junior/citizen developers) and it created a talent war for experienced developers.

Tech investment is hitting new highs — and everyone wants to hire developers

The increase in demand for software has contributed to the increase in low-code software development platforms. This is a way to increase the number of developers because you can train non-developers to be developers quickly.

Read my blogs posts on Low-code development

Stage 3 — The great resignation

A few factors mentioned above lead to developers looking for new jobs

• Burnout — leads developers to change their job and often their company
• Better roles — increase in demand for developers leads to better roles in growing companies/development teams
• Better pay — Talent war for developers leads to better pay for doing the same job
• had enough — many developers are not treated great (no training, terrible projects, no investment in them and under appreciated) and they took this as an opportunity to say I have had enough, I’m moving.

I saw an increase in developers moving jobs (in the company I worked for)

Why Are So Many Software Developers Quitting Their Jobs?

The term the great resignation started to appear in the media and social media(a term used by the media not developers)

Developers Found Opportunity in The Covid Crises, which isn’t related to covid but to the increase in demand for software and software developers.

Stage 4 — Sabbaticals

In the last few weeks, 2 or 3 of my developers in my network are taking 6 months off. One developer has quit with no job lined up the other is taking an agreed long break.

These developers have some money saved, feel they have got through covid and want a break.

I read this The Great Resignation has morphed into the Great Sabbatical and I think this will be the next stage for developers.

This is based on a small sample and an article, but it seems a logical step. Companies have been hiring more developers over the last two years to meet increased demand. The other aspect of growing the team is to stop your existing developers from leaving.

Developers know they leverage at the moment and companies are doing more to keep the developers they got. If you wanted to have an extended break, this is a glorious moment to do it.

There is a tiredness too many developers at the moment. Covid has hit in waves, just when we think we have got the better of Delta strain of Covid, it fights back with the most contagious strain of covid yet — Omnicrom.

This is a good time for reflection and realise that many developers have been working the last two years remotely and have been a prisoner in their home.

I predict you will see more developers taking extended leave and enjoying life in the next 6 months.