Top 10 Reasons Talented Programmers Quit

The technology industry has an attrition rate of 13.2% and in some specialized fields it is as high as 21%. This is a huge financial loss as well as a loss of human capital. I am not here to talk about companies, but rather to highlight certain factors that negatively affect employee behavior and what can be done to remedy the situation. Below we discuss reasons for why talented programmers quit.

Talented programmers quit

Security

Lack of job security is one of the biggest reasons for anyone to think about changing jobs. A lack of funding, loss of clients or an unstable product plan is enough to raise doubts. No one wants to live in constant fear of being fired because it affects not only the individual but all their near and dear ones. Stability is a big deal for many people, especially those with school aged children.

Team culture

Since most of us spend one third of our day with coworkers, team culture is always important. Team culture is also a broad term and includes various things including the way team members interact with each other, work tasks, collaboration, motivation, support mechanisms, team values, flexibility, respect.

Stress

Work pressure and stress determine the overall quality of life for most people. Although it depends on the nature of the work, there is nothing that cannot be handled. If there is constant pressure to perform and the work environment is stressful, this can be a hindrance, even for many high performers.

Work life balance

Work-life balance plays a key role in finding stability. All employers need to understand that there is a life outside of work and everyone needs some space for that. There are always times of high workload in everyone’s job, but this should be the exception, not the norm. If the job often requires working long hours or working on weekends or holidays, then it’s not something everyone wants to do for long.

Credit for work

If you see the same person presenting the team’s work every time, then something is wrong with the team. If employees start to feel that their hard work isn’t appreciated or recognized, that’s the point at which they realize it’s time to move on.

Stretching

Those who show kindness to certain workers may feel that their actions are small enough to go unnoticed, but in most cases this is not true. If every high-visibility task is assigned to the same person without enough consideration, then it’s a problem that others will easily spot. Even if it is not immediately known, eventually favoritism emerges and can create negative moods.

Bias

Distortion can take many forms and is usually one of the most common reasons that are often overlooked. Diversity is a big buzzword in the workplace, but we often see that bias exists in different forms, gender, race, ethnicity or belief. While others may laugh at some jokes, the victims would surely notice the bias.

Growth

Many high performers are also naturally ambitious. If a team has established leaders and not enough growth opportunities for others, this may be a reason for some workers to seek better prospects outside. This may be due to the insecurity of existing leaders or simply because there is not enough work to warrant more leaders.

Interest

This is one of the reasons given in HR exit interviews, but in reality it is rarely the only reason, but rather another catalyst for someone to leave a stable job. If someone gets stuck in the same kind of work for a very long time and doesn’t see the value in it, they tend to lose interest and may want to explore newer challenges.

Learning and development

If there aren’t enough opportunities to learn and grow, employees may start to worry about long-term job security. Some workers may remain satisfied working in their comfort zone, while others are motivated to grow, and learning and development opportunities are needed to retain these workers.

Conclusion

A good team of hardworking and creative engineers can make the difference between average companies and great ones. You can do a lot to retain your team members by minimizing boring projects, taking care of legacy and technical debt, improving the environment and benefits, and preventing burnout.