Nearly half of developers would quit their jobs over the “embarrassing” tech they have to work with – with three in ten considering resigning over a lack of AI.
That’s according to a survey by Storyblok of 200 senior developers, which found that nine in ten use AI to code frequently.
The polled developers said they make use of AI in their coding in order to increase efficiency (30%), to automate routine tasks (23%), and to boost their own skills (22%).
But not all are getting the AI and other tech tools they’d like, the survey found. According to the poll, 47.5% of developers had thought about quitting over an outdated tech stack, with nearly a third (31%) of respondents said that the lack of support with the latest innovations, notably AI, was a main reason to quit their job – though more said they were frustrated by the lack of key functionality (51%) and the difficulties of maintaining it (47%).
Alexander Feiglstorfer, CTO and Co-Founder of Storyblok, said: “The message to businesses is clear – outdated tech stacks are making your developers unhappy to the point of quitting.”
Outdated tech a hindrance
Of particular concern is content management systems, with more than two-thirds of developers saying their outdated CMS is holding back their work, and half saying that such old systems are a “constant” hindrance.
And it’s not just the dreaded outdated CMS. According to the survey, nearly half – 47.5% of those polled – say the current tech staff at their employer made them think about quitting over the last year, with 31% considering handing in their notice over the last month.
The survey found that 74% of those asked felt their satisfaction and self-identity as developers was negatively impacted by tech stacks, with a quarter feeling embarrassed by outdated legacy systems, and a similar number shamed by their use of workarounds and use of outdated frameworks. Just 14% said they weren’t embarrassed by the tech stack they needed to work with each day.
The biggest burden causing developer unhappiness was fixing bugs in legacy systems, dealing with stakeholders who lacked tech skills and don’t understand limitations, and shifting corporate priorities.
Pay for upgrades
What can be done to cheer up developers? More than a third called for their employers to allocate resources to modernise text stacks, with a similar figure saying they’d like leadership to have tech knowledge and understanding.
“Rectifying this problem means either paying developers more to stay or investing in updating legacy systems,” said Feiglstorfer, adding that pay rises weren’t enough – though perhaps talk to your developers before failing to boost their salaries. “Pay rises are a short-term fix as our research shows how closely developers tie their professional identity and happiness to the quality of the tech stack they use.”
Feiglstorfer added: “If you want to bring joy back into your development team, and consequently improve performance and productivity, you need to commit to a modernization roadmap. Not only will this reduce developer team churn, but it will open the door to your business being able to more effectively leverage the latest innovations within AI and composable tech.”
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