Why is Burnout So Common in Tech? Let's talk about it

Whack advice

Cause they’re overpaid and largely incompetent?

Burn out is physiologic: poor sleep, stress, port diet and exercise and toxic work environment all accumulate overtime to create disease in the body and mind. And both are integrated.

From my experience, here is my list from top to bottom in terms of severity:
Burnout: being set up with high expectations, that lead to inevitable failure or reaching goals with no reward
Existential dread: working on something that has no value or will never be finished
Boreout: having nothing or useless things to do (busywork)

My observation is that the burnout happens much more in FAANG companies.
I had 10 years of experience working for 5 non FAANG companies in different positions before joining one of FAANGs.

Never once I witnessed the burnout. Maybe I got lucky.

Working for 3 years at one of FAANG I have witnessed 6 people burnout. Those are only the people I directly know. I’m sure there are many more of those who I don’t know. This is crazy.

I think burnout is part of the middle class no trust fund life, since grade 5 you are expected to go above and beyond your peers, for me personally i am in "ON" mode since grade 10, getting into university, and then in canada we chose specialization (in some unis not all) based on year 1 perf evaluation followed by surviving year 2 which is weeding year, Year 3 to compete for super specialization like CS or VLSI then in year 4 grinding Leetcode and managing design,

finally in FAANG, year 1 fighting for promo to prevent Job loss, year 2 transitioning to Staff and again grinding to adjust, from what i see there is no other way but up or out, this is reality we don't have the luxury to stop grinding every we must perform year on year always 100% improvement, with new success comes new responsibilities, once i get 10-20 million usd i might have the luxury to take a break till then its grindset bro,

I was working in a reputed tech company(don't want to name it everyone knows them) and I was fired with respect. It just didn't go well with me. The politics, performance and face evaluation just to know it's all part of a chain system. The person who talks too much or mouth splatter is the one who gets luckiest. I know I didn't had those TALENT of being too loud. Also the shifts (India), I just couldn't adjust to the fact that I was expected to be online even If I had plans for the weekend with my loved ones. Psychologically it affects if you can't revive yourself. Now that I don't have a corporate job I may have less money but I am happier with my loved ones. Money is not success, that what I have learned.

I appreciate your perspective. I think the key is lack of rest. We can take whatever challenges, with whatever rewards one deems appropiate, but without adequate rest, we WILL burnout

It's sad that burnout has become standard and expected in this industry. They expect you to know everything and then throw it all away every 2 years. The pace of business driven by Agile had destroyed common sense and normal expectations. Some of us are simply more interested in programming than whatever DevOps zoo and cloud nonsense was en vogue at the last Summit your CTO attended.

Thanks for making this video, I am a self taught developer, and I've been struggling with finding ways to continue my journey. This video has given me a lot of insight in what I've been struggling with and I think it has also given me a solution in overcoming certain obstacles.

This video feels relevant every year, and I'm a senior engineer. Now more than ever, everyone is getting less for our effort, not just software engineers.

The being pulled in two different directions by different authorities both being someone one is obligated to be subordinate to and them being equivalent in rank somehow like wuh? That happens in tangible manufacturing as well. Perhaps even it is pervasive in almost all careers. It is just the most debilitating of fool's errands. Thanks for the double bind my favorite I'm SOL such a funny conundrum. Except life is not a sitcom it has nothing to do with the lulz.

switchin from frontend clown fiesta to backend improved my sleep, personal life and i could do my hobbies again. once you learn system design, concurrency, database optimisation, you are just done. no need to care about react switching paradigms or new pointless typescript feature, or new way to write css. you have to learn more for backend role, but what you learn, can be relevant for a very long time. We have 50+ y.o. guys doing java, go and php together with early 20s guys. Those senior folks are very smart developers relying on their expertise with some sprinkles of trends and in frontend department you hardly find anyone above 40 y.o. coincidence? frontend is forever changing shit show and mentally not much rewarding to most of people.

Since the begginnind, I learnt that coding is something that we learn in community.. so I'n my first work I was expecting that. But besides 1 nice coworker, nobody else wanted to help the juniors. Then the sprints, the tickets, the deadlines started.. everybody was mad with everybody at some point. And now. Now I still work there but I have mini panick attacks when I have to code.

You want burnout? Get into writing Government contracts for a military agency. You people in tech haven’t seen anything.

Agile is the devil and causes burnout too

Productivity metrics always mean more than software quality / value. It crushes enjoyment in a industry that could be so fun.

Really insightful, relevant, and helpful video. I work as a graphic designer on projects creating innovative analogue products (that are also a ton of work to develop for the same reasons that you mentioned for tech products) and pretty much everything you've said here applies to that type of work too.

We learn from a very early age to self optimize: Be good in school, go to a good university (away from our families and friends), graduate with good grades and get into prestigious roles at well known companies. After that climb the career ladder while comuting long hours. In an office you can be luck or stuck in with people you don't really like having to obey your boss and his moods. First you think you can make lots of friends and grow together with them. But after some time you realize everyone is just fighting for himself while being polite and doing some superficial small talk. I mean in every advice about working in a company you can hear: Don't overshare, don't talk about your problems, don't share too much about your ideas because they can be stolen. Don't be too friendly to coworkers from other teams because your boss is competing with their boss and they could use you to get information. Your boss is not your friend but drops you as soon as you stop performing and the work is simply a transaction: Your time for money so you can buy a new car, electronic equipment or save for a house or an apartment. If you have great innovative ideas you have to fight really hard for them and with colleagues who are envious. And if your ideas are good you still have to play the game of company politics, know the right people for it to not just disappear. The other possibility is to filter yourself to not stand out, so people think you are not a threat. At the end I find myself asking if this is the right system. Isn't a simpler life, where people grow old with each other knowing each other for long periods of time much better? Also if it's worth it being a top performer but having no one to share it with. Then the question comes why am I fighting so hard? For more money that I don't need? For other people to treat me with respect for the 2 seconds I greet them? For the company shareholders who use my work to buy their next Ferrari with? Is it natural to sit in one room every day for 8 hours and when you would decide to exit the building and somebody notices you would have to explain yourself or being punished? This is the reason why burnout exists: It's just a way of your body telling you that the life you're living isn't how you are supposed to be living. I have no obvious solution however to fix this

Because they are not sustainable.

When I started in tech in the mid 2000's there was a sense that technology was a force for good and there was a lot of positivity associated with technology and the technology companies. Now years later it seems like technology has made peoples life more isolated and miserable and these tech companies are no different than any other public company thats sole focus is to maximize shareholder profit.

A lot of people get into tech just for the money. Its a super competitive career were you need to be constantly willing to keep up to date on the latest technologies to stay ahead of the curve. I'm actually thinking of getting out because as I get older I'm realizing I don't give a shit about it.

Honestly, I thank you for the video.

You are really smart

So good! Thank you for sharing Mayuko!

2 years! TRY 6 months smeesh.

The current economic model on the planet is total c rap ! The global south gets the worst of it !

Management in tech is insufferable. I've worked in auto engineering for about 10 years, and recently the shift to auto becoming a tech job has occurred. Tech execs from Apple and the like have started to trickle in as cars become more software than hardware, with all the EXTREMELY toxic work practices of the tech industry. Everything is already late when you start it, managers don't have the attention span to care about your project even within the timeline they gave you, the expectations are unreasonable, the "help" they give is more work. I blame the people and culture.

Do yourself a favor and start your own business instead of killing yourself to make somebody else rich.

So true

Burnout happens when all of what you said happens, and there's no support from leaders, any leadership at all. People in TECH are so result and problem solving minded that they have no ability whatsoever to deal with people. So they lock themselves in their rooms to pretend they are solving problems and forget the people on the floor are sometimes struggling, just needing help.

Wait... You're not a therapist or doctor? Dang I clicked at the wrong video

i fall in love in each video i saw her, is it normal?

People burnout in other industries too, but they don't quit because their pay wasn't high enough to take a break off work quite yet haha

The work that you do, has an impact on me. Thank you.

私の朝ごはん、ありがとうございます！

I don't believe you. Silicon Valley is the happiest place on Earth!! Lol!!

It's easy to get burnt out making very meticulous motherboards or after reading

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all day. Some people want to do other things, most people don't live to do a specific thing all their life. Sometimes people make art, some people want to play video games. They expect you to worship them in this industry, punishing you for existing outside of IT or programming.

I think one of two things happens in tech. You either burn out chasing the dreams of material status or you achieve the dream and realize it was all for nothing.

Thankyou

you are amazing

Lots of people got into tech in the mid 00’s because it pays well, and is considered prestigious. What I think many underestimated is that, on the developer side of things, because there is a creative element involved, simply having the “skills” and credentials is often not enough. For coding and developing, if you are not truly passionate about your work, not only will your end product not be all that superb, but you yourself will eventually burn out, and do something else.

It’s rewarding to me every time I get a loop to work : )

Not a video comment but I want the blue code sweater that was limited so much : ( bring it back bring it back take my moneeeeeyyyy!!

Thanks

I dunno... Maybe being expected to work 60-80-100 hours a week (not counting commuting) in the Silicon Valley Salt Mines might have something to do with it.

Much love to everyone working in tech!

I just want a dev job that's 9-5. Where I am expected to build things and be left alone lol. After 5 I do what I want. And during work hours, I push out tickets and meet deadlines in peace. No pressure to become a unicorn or jack of all trades (full stack), no meetings, no work outside of my job description.

Such a job is hard to find but I believe that's the best kind of job to avoid burnout.

😁 Great content

I left tech and became an electrician best thing I’ve ever done.

work is work, nothing more than that. if u get something more, consider it is a bonus, dont take it for granted.