Developers want Work-Life Balance
It’s always interesting starting a new career path and beginning to learn all the “in’s and out’s” of your new life — especially the things that aren’t taught and you can’t pick up at a four-year university. One of these that I quickly realized is that software developers are in high demand, and with that they can become quickly exploited.
I learned very soon after joining the professional workforce that most in development positions share the same desire. A nice work-life balance is at, or near, the top of the list in importance when assessing happiness in their job. I have had many impromptu conversations, either when asked by a prospect of a job that I currently hold or asked by myself to one of my fellow coworkers, that turn to this exact topic. Let’s be honest, nobody truly loves working overtime or getting caught in those 60 hour work weeks.
Something that I’m not sure of, but suspect, is that this trend has likely grown quickly in the past 5–7 years. As the tech boom has hit companies in every single industry, the supply continues to lessen as the demand does not seem to drop. This can create a heavily “workaholic” focused environment for anyone in a tech related job, but especially development. When deadlines are drawing near for that next release of software, dev teams are almost always pulling late nights and nearing 60 hour work weeks.
There have been several studies and surveys that have been conducted in the past few years around this topic. This story from dev.to asked readers and several other groups that are in development related position what they value most in a job. In both groups the #1 answer was a healthy work-life balance. This graphic below shows a few other responses and highlights the #1 response in each category:
As a developer myself, it is nice to see the same things that I value hitting home with several others in the same profession. What I hope comes of this article for anyone reading is the realization that you are not alone in what you value. If you are in a position that makes you feel “guilty” for wanting a work life balance that suits you, whatever that may be, then I would say that’s not the right place for you to be. I’d recommend holding a conversation with whomever is in a management position above yourself and laying out exactly what you feel would be fair and your expectations. After all, it is in the company’s best interest to keep you around — it costs far more for that company to hire and train a new employee, not to mention all the headache that can bring, rather than keep you happy and employed.
If you have questions or anything you’d like to add to the article please reach out!