Why VPs Should Care About Engineer Burnout

Companies often underestimate the importance of maintaining the morale of their engineers, whose performance is crucial to the success of their products. Burnout among engineers is costly, as it can lead to reduced productivity and high turnover, with replacement costs reaching up to 150% of an employee's annual salary. Maintaining high morale is vital not only for reducing these costs but also for fostering creativity and initiative, which are essential for effective software development. The hero culture and disorganized schedules prevalent in many organizations contribute to stress and undetected issues in software, highlighting the need for structured incident management solutions. These solutions can help by organizing on-call schedules, reducing alert fatigue, improving visibility across teams, and setting realistic expectations, ultimately enhancing collaboration and morale. Investing in these measures requires proactive engagement from IT managers and executives, as well as open communication with engineers, to cultivate a supportive environment aligned with DevOps principles.