You know that feeling when your alarm clock goes off at 6:00 a.m., and you have to get up for work again because you didn’t magically escape your responsibilities overnight? You’re not alone. According to the 2024 Stack Overflow survey, 80% of developers feel this way. One in three programmers actually hate their job, and almost half are just going through the motions. That leaves only 20% who are somewhat happy.

I love coding all day, so these results surprised me. Developers are paid well, get lots of vacation, can work from home, and even have fun office perks like nap pods and game rooms. But apparently, that’s not enough.

Today, we’ll explore why so many developers are unhappy and what you can do about it. 

Last week, Stack Overflow released its annual survey with over 65,000 responses from developers worldwide. It’s packed with surprising insights about the current state of programming and technology. We’ll look at this data and share stories from developers to highlight the real issues they face.

Money Isn’t Everything

People say money can’t buy happiness, but no one’s sad driving a luxury car, right? Developers are well-paid, but not as much as you might think. There’s a joke that learning PHP guarantees you a Lambo, but in reality, PHP developers have a median salary of $49k, one of the lowest. And this is down from last year. The few PHP millionaires are also entrepreneurs.

In contrast, specialized languages like Elixir or Rust pay more. But the best way to make more money is to move to the U.S. where salaries are higher or to learn people skills to become a manager. Ironically, U.S. developers report higher depression rates than those in Southeast Asia, so money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness. If you’re getting into programming just for the money, think again.

Technical Debt

A major frustration among developers is technical debt. Imagine a messy codebase that works but is full of patches and temporary fixes. Instead of starting over, people keep building on it for years. Eventually, the code is so tangled that any change risks breaking everything. You might find comments like “to-do: fix this later,” left by someone who left the company years ago.

Everyone wants to do good work, but it’s hard with such a messy codebase. Unfortunately, there’s not much one person can do. It’s a systemic issue.

The Pressure Cooker Environment

In the programming world, there’s constant pressure. Your tech lead wants you to finish tasks by the sprint’s end. The engineering manager wants the product done by the quarter’s end. The VP wants to boost revenue. The CEO wants to meet earnings targets. This pressure trickles down to developers through unrealistic deadlines and expectations.

One solution is to switch jobs, as many developers do. But job-hopping isn’t always the answer. Some companies are so bogged down by bureaucracy that nothing gets done. Endless meetings about meetings can make anyone lose motivation.

Even if you have a good job, salary, and boss, you might get laid off by age 25 because you’re seen as too old to code. Recent layoffs and the aftermath of the COVID boom have disillusioned many in the industry.

Programming can also be unhealthy physically. Sitting all day is worse than smoking, according to studies. But exercise is a proven remedy for depression. So, staying active can help.

Despite the stats showing 80% of programmers are unhappy, remember that challenges can make us stronger.