Understanding Developers Well-Being and Productivity: a 2-year Longitudinal Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic

TL;DR

This longitudinal study over two years examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected software engineers' well-being, productivity, and social contacts, revealing systematic changes and preferences for hybrid work arrangements.

Contribution

The paper introduces the IJARS model, a new framework integrating job demands-resources and self-determination theories to explain developers' well-being and productivity during the pandemic.

Findings

Well-being and social contacts increased as lockdowns eased.

Boredom and productivity remained stable throughout the pandemic.

Developers favor hybrid work arrangements post-pandemic.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant and enduring shifts in various aspects of life, including increased flexibility in work arrangements. In a longitudinal study, spanning 24 months with six measurement points from April 2020 to April 2022, we explore changes in well-being, productivity, social contacts, and needs of software engineers during this time. Our findings indicate systematic changes in various variables. For example, well-being and quality of social contacts increased while emotional loneliness decreased as lockdown measures were relaxed. Conversely, people's boredom and productivity, remained stable. Furthermore, a preliminary investigation into the future of work at the end of the pandemic revealed a consensus among developers for a preference of hybrid work arrangements. We also discovered that prior job changes and low job satisfaction were consistently linked to intentions to change jobs if current work conditions do not meet developers' needs. This highlights the need for software organizations to adapt to various work arrangements to remain competitive employers. Building upon our findings and the existing literature, we introduce the Integrated Job Demands-Resources and Self-Determination (IJARS) Model as a comprehensive framework to explain the well-being and productivity of software engineers during the COVID-19 pandemic.