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Do Software Engineers inflate the reported hours they claim to work?

• w_t_payne 7y ago
  A few years ago (2014ish) I would start the work week pulling 7am to 10:30pm - approx 15 hour days -- but couldn't sustain that for more than a couple of days, so by Friday my hours would drop to 10-11 hours per day, and I would spend pretty much the entire weekend asleep - so significantly less than the 90h claimed and much closer to 60h. After a couple of years of this, I was in the middle of an emotional breakdown with rapidly encroaching early-onset rheumatoid arthritis - my body couldn't handle it any more. So ... while I don't think it's totally impossible - it's also a long way from being a healthy lifestyle. (Needless to say I try to avoid this sort of thing these days).
  • pjtham 7y ago
    Thanks for sharing your experience, glad to hear that you got a better handle on this now!
• dusted 7y ago
  TLDR: No-one pays for hours, they pay for value. Nothing else matters (to quote metallica). I think some companies (and people) need to change their thinking: One might be thinking intensely about the problem for 2 hours, and spend 1 hour writing the code, they might report 7 hours. Not because they're lazy slackers, but because they're backburning, seeking flow and inspiration, getting interrupted and all the other stuff that gets in the way of coding.. I code mostly the first hour when I arrive, when I've got the clear idea from all the backburning that I couldn't help but do the night before when doing house chores, playing Apex Legends and on the drive to work. When that's been flushed, I read some articles and "wait for it to come back", then there's lunch, and after that I will read another article or two, listen to music, do reviews, and then think hard about the problem.. Then for the last 2 hours, "it" will be back, and I will write the code down. Am I lying when I've logged the days time? No. That code costs a days worth of salary, it does not matter how many lines it is, or even how hard it was to write. What matters is that my employer is satisfied with the value they got for that amount of money in that amount of time. If they can't accept that, they'd have to find someone else.. But would they want that? Would that guy who sits and types the entire day produce more code than me? Maybe not, maybe he's doing more interation. Maybe, maybe he's just better (tm) than I am. Maybe not, maybe he's writing more, but worse. But it does not even matter. Would the money for a days work be better spent on him than me? I wouldn't know. But I can't feel bad, because I'm doing the best I can, and my intention is good, and nobody can ask for more. I've been here for 6 years and never heard a word for it.
• uberman 7y ago
  IT professionals in the "Bay Area" do not reflect the broader nationwide IT community. They tend to be younger, often fresh out of college with no family connections in the area. My first job out of college (actually while I was in college doing a co-op program as well) was with a large IT company in Redwood Shores. I lived in SF proper. I had left my family and friends "back home" and joined my new "family" at work. Looking back, they were not co-workers, but more like fellow cult members. It was routine day in day out that we would get to work around 10am and work until 10pm then go clubbing for a couple of hours. This was work in the office and before the rise of startup houses. With a startup house and a fresh batch of fellow cultists right out of college working from their bedrooms, 60 hours a week seems easy to me. This is clearly not the way the broader IT community functions. Today, I work from home and put in 10 hour days Monday to Friday plus whatever I put in on the weekend. My wife who does defense/intelligence tech routinely works longer than me.