Harness 2020 State of Developer Satisfaction Report Shows Impact of Coronavirus on Software Development

the platform for software delivery, today announced its 2020 State of Developer Satisfaction Report. The report features insights from 500 IT and engineering professionals across software and finance industries on the impact that demographics, job skills, company culture and the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic have on software delivery and job satisfaction.

The skills developers provide are hard to find and easy to lose, and the Coronavirus pandemic has introduced a bevy of new challenges that developers have never encountered before, from company-wide shifts to remote work, budget cuts, layoffs, and salary freezes. Product development has never been more important to a company’s survival. Thus, the overall satisfaction of today’s developer workforce is critical.

The report reveals that over half of developers (52%) are happier in their roles since COVID-19 began. Developers are overwhelmingly satisfied (94%) with their employer’s investment in employee growth and development, and two-thirds (66%) value their companies even more than they did before the crisis. Additionally, nearly half (43%) of developers are more productive in their roles since COVID-19 began. Importantly, nearly three-fourths of developers say their organizations plan to keep a remote or distributed workforce following the pandemic – a sharp increase from just 2% of developers whose teams were fully remote prior to the pandemic.

Age matters: While more than half of developers are happier in their role since the pandemic began, 70% of baby boomer developers (ages 55+) are either less happy since the pandemic started, or their happiness has not changed. Interestingly, that compares with 43% of millennials.

Money can buy happiness: 64% of respondents who earn $150,000 or more are happier in their roles since COVID-19 began, while just 44% who make $75,000 or less are happier.

Job changes are in the cards: 48% of developers are likely to switch jobs within the next year; 45% feel anxious at the prospect. Fifty-four percent of developers who make less than $75,000 are at least somewhat likely to change jobs, compared to 46% of those making more than that.

Development teams are onboarding less: 42% of development teams saw the frequency of developer onboarding decrease since COVID-19 began. 29% of developers saw an increase, and 29% saw no change.

“The sudden switch to work from home after Coronavirus lockdowns blurred the boundaries between work and home for millions of people worldwide. As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on traditional business models, it is more critical than ever to hire and retain talented software developers, who are the heart of every company’s innovation,” said Jyoti Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Harness. “This survey reveals what truly matters to developers in times of uncertainty, and at Harness we’re committed to empowering our developers to deliver better software and helping other businesses do the same.”

Flexible work environments, competitive salaries and investment in employee growth and development are key differentiators that companies can leverage, especially in times of personal and economic stress and uncertainty. In response to this, Harness is committed to maintaining happy and fulfilled developers. For example, Harness is encouraging its developers to work remotely post-pandemic, and hiring remote developers for the first time. Additionally, the company just rolled out a wellness program called TGIF, where all employees get a paid day off – on the second Friday of every month – to spend time with family, focus on mental health, and unwind from work.

The Harness 2020 State of Developer Satisfaction Report surveyed 500 IT and engineering professionals in May 2020 across software and finance industries in the U.S. The report provides insight into the impact demographics, skills, company culture and the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic have on software delivery and job satisfaction. Download the full 2020 State of Developer Satisfaction Report here.

Based in San Francisco, Harness is the industry’s first Continuous Delivery-as-a-Service™ platform designed to provide a simple, safe and secure way for engineering and DevOps teams to release applications into production. Harness uses machine learning to detect the quality of deployments and automatically roll back failed ones, saving time and reducing the need for custom scripting and manual oversight. Harness customers include NCR, Kohl’s, Discover Financial, Nationwide Insurance and McAfee