Question for the old timers: is it possible to work as a dev for the rest of your life and be happy?
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Does it get any better or is dev burnout baked into the business model of every company?
The CEO flat out admitted it was exactly that where I'm at a few weeks ago 😞

Yes, but you need to be good at setting boundaries, and not stressing when people get arsey with you around those.

There's times I'll stay late, or work extra, sure - but not all the time. If I don't think it's an emergency, I've got something else planned, etc. - then someone else needs to take the reigns. If someone else can't, then that's managements problem - not mine.

Basically, "try to burn me out and you get burned, not me."

Do you like coding? That helps. Burnout isn't universal, but isn't uncommon... couple of jobs I hated, couple I loved.

I don't know if I count as an old timer, but I was among the first few "computer science" classes in the ol'alma mater, and my hair is mostly gray or absent, so maybe?

But anyway, yes. Burnout is baked in the business model.

Consulting/Outsourcing software companies can only ever grow by increasing output faster than headcount, in other words pressing their devs ever more and more. It's even worse when they are not growing, because the only costs they can ever cut is laying off devs.

Companies with internal devs must do the same type of margin increase when growing, or must cut costs when stalling out or shrinking - either by layoffs or by increased automation. In every hypothesis the devs get the cane by the way of more work per person.

So play yourself the long game by prioritizing your health, mental and physical, getting as much learning as you can on the company's dime, and flipping of double birds the moment the needle gets on red. Likely every 3-5 years or so.

Shit companies do that, so yeah most of them.
Only thing you can do is keep learning, jumping off when a company becomes shit or won’t increase your wages. Rinse and repeat.

no. because it's impossible to be happy.

Try to have your cake and eat it too. End up getting caked and eaten.

Chase actual happiness, not job satisfaction. Only then you will be happy.

Burnout is deeply ingrained. That's why you have work outs and alcohol

We're in a tight schedule in my project, actually already late. I totally could put in overtime and even weekends, but I just don't.

You know, becoming older naturally involves becoming more grumpy, and the only way to offset that is by mastering the art of not giving a fuck.

As long as they don't micromanage me and don't feel owed my time outside working hours it would be impossible to burn me out I think

Idk how bad it is out there. I don't like people dictating how I should exist though, but whatever your problem I'll find the solution. Though never at the expense of my health or personal life. After all, if you want a prosperous relationship where you get to continue using my skills you gotta make sure I live strong and healthy~

I don't know how it was before the pandemic - I personally had a job that respected my work/life balance back then. Since the pandemic, I have been driven out of tech by the whole hybrid/work from home system where they expect me to modify my personal devices for them. The abusive behavior of big tech companies making everyone, including school children, ever more dependent on them has ensured this career break will be a long one.

In short - no, no it is not.

@Jaded-Phelps Personal devices?! That's shitty IT right there (security issues). Using private devices for work is strictly forbidden in my company. WFH is just via the normal work laptop.

@Fast-Nop Working from personal devices was also banned in a couple of other companies I worked for - this was not the only way in which they were better operated.

@Fast-Nop To be clear, having work files on a personal device was disallowed, so I had to use their Windows-exclusive remote desktop setup to work from home.

It’s fun to work as a dev if you barely give a fuck about your job

Hey! Good question!

I think you need to love it. I mean. I have a _romantic_ view on hardware and software.

What great new worlds we build!

We. We are changing the world. Every day!

There is so much unleashed productivity gains out there in bad software, old software, mis-aligned systems and often…absolutely no software at all. Pen and paper. Works! Telephone. Works!

I mean, the number of business processes that are built upon Microsoft Excel is huge. The errors made on a single day on the planet Earth is staggering.

Every day we make things better (and worse!)

Find a large company that aopreciates software where you see both career moves horizontally and vertically. This is not the truth! You will have to find a good organization where management is ”good”. (Large corps also sucks by the way but they have a lot if potential movement!)

I think it’s a great job! All jobs has pros and cons, dev-stuff is no different! I love code and computers.