How COVID-19 Pandemic affects Software Developers’ Wellbeing, and the New Trends in Soft Skills in Working from Home

The coronavirus COVID-19 swept the world in early 2020, working from home was a necessity. In the software industry, thousands of software developers began working from home, many did so on short notice, under difficult and stressful conditions. The emotions of developers can be affected by this situation. On the other hand, some well-known soft skills have been emphasized as required for working remotely. Software engineering research lacks theory and methodologies for addressing human aspects in software development. In this paper, we present an exploratory study focused on the developers’ wellbeing during pandemic, expressed as emotions, and the perceptions of the level in which soft skills are practiced/required in the working from home mode. The results show that high percent expressed to experience positive emotions, however, a portion of respondents expressed to feel negative emotions. In the case of soft skills, some of them are revealed as practiced in high level in working from home, but still there is not consensus.

1. World Economic Forum (WEF). The Future of Jobs Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Global Challenge Insight Report. Online: January 2016, available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf, accessed June 01, 2021.

2. Gartner. Building the Digital Platform: Insights From the 2016 Gartner CIO Agenda Report. Online: 2016, available at: https://www.gartner.com/imagesrv/cio/pdf/cio_agenda_insights_2016.pdf, accessed June 01, 2021.

3. Top Jobs to Work Remotely. Available at: https://remoteok.io/remote-work-statistics, accessed June 01, 2021.

4. Where and How to Find Software Developers for Remote Work on US Projects in 2021. Available at: https://youteam.io/blog/where-to-find-software-developers-for-remote-work-on-us-projects/, accessed June 01, 2021.

5. Stack Overflow. Developer Survey Results 2019: Where Do Developers Want to Work?. Available at: https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2019, accessed June 01, 2020.

6. EPAM Anywhere Business. How to Find and Hire Remote Developers When The Best Are Flying off the Shelf in a Day. Available at: https://anywhere.epam.com/business/how-to-find-and-hire-remote-developers, accessed June 01, 2022.

7. Digneo G. 10 Essential Signs You Need to Hire a Remote Dedicated Development Team. Online: Nov 26, 2019, available at: https://runningremote.com/remote-development-team/, accessed June 01, 2021.

8. Python Django Remote Jobs. Available at: https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Jobs/Python-Django-Remote, accessed June 01, 2021.

9. Cote A. Remote Teams Guide: How to Manage Your Remote Software Development Team. Online: 15 April 2020, available at: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/remote-teams-manager-guide/, accessed June 01, 2021.

10. Doyle A. Important Job Skills for Software Engineers. Online: July 09, 2019, available at: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/software-engineer-skills-list-2062483, accessed June 01, 2021.

11. Pounder C. Homeworking: No longer an easy option? Computers & Security, vol. 17, issue 1, 1998, pp. 27-30.

12. Guo H. Special requirements for software process improvement applied in teleworking environments. In Proc. of the Second Asia-Pacific Conference on Quality Software, 2001, pp. 331-340.

13. Herbsleb J.D. Global software engineering: The future of socio-technical coordination. In Proc. of the Future of Software Engineering Conference, 2007, pp. 188-198.

14. Šmite D., Wohlin C. et al. Empirical evidence in global software engineering: a systematic review. Empirical Software Engineering, vol. 15, issue 1, 2010, pp. 91-118.

15. Deshpande A., Sharp H. L. et al. Remote working and collaboration in agile teams. In Proc. Iof the nternational Conference on Information Systems, 2016, paper no. 12, 17 p.

16. Mazzina A. What it means to be a remote-first company. Online: February 8, 2017, available at: https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/02/08/means-remote-first-company/, accessed June 1, 2021.

17. Meyer A.N., Barr E.T. et al. Today Was a Good Day: The Daily Life of Software Developers. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. 47, issue 5, 2021, pp. 863-880.

18. Digneo G. Are Remote Workers Happier Than Office Employees? Available at: https://biz30.timedoctor.com/remote-workers-infographic/, accessed June 01, 2021.

19. Wachal M. What is it like to work remotely as a software developer? Online: Sep 10, 2019, available at: https://blog.softwaremill.com/what-is-it-like-to-work-remotelyas-a-software-developer-1c0777e4a2a9, accessed June 01, 2021.

20. Can a Software Developer Work from Home? Available at: https://www.ecpi.edu/blog/can-a-software-developer-work-from-home, accessed June 01, 2021.

21. The Top 6 Challenges of Working Remotely And How You Can Overcome Them. Online: March 13, 2018, available at: https://www.timecamp.com/blog/2018/03/top-6-challenges-of-a-remote-work-and-how-to-overcome-them/, accessed June 01, 2020.

22. Mishchenko A. Does Remote Work in Software Development Lead to Better Productivity? Available at: https://www.timedoctor.com/blog/remote-software-development/, accesed June 01, 2021.

23. Turetken O., Jain A. et al. An Empirical Investigation of the Impact of Individual and Work Characteristics on Telecommuting Success. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, vol. 54, issue 1, 2011, pp. 56-67.

24. Colomo-Palacios R., Casado-Lumbreras C. et al. Using the Affect Grid to Measure Emotions in Software Requirements Engineering. Journal of Universal Computer Science, vol. 17, issue 9, 2011, pp. 1281-1298.

25. Miller C., Rodeghero P. et al. How was your weekend? Software Development teams working from home during COVID-19. In Proc. of the IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering, 2021, pp. 624–636.

26. Miller C., Rodeghero et al. Survey Instruments for "How Was Your Weekend?" Software Development Teams Working from Home During COVID-19. In Companion Proc. of the IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering, 2021, pp. 223-223.

27. Bao L., Li T. et al. How does working from home affect developer productivity? — A case study of Baidu during the COVID-19 pandemic. Science China. Information Science, vol. 65, issue 4, 2022, article no. 142102, 17 p.

28. Graziotin D., Wang X., Abrahamsson P. Do feelings matter? On the correlation of affects and the self-assessed productivity in software engineering.” Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, vol. 27, isssue 7, 2015, pp. 467-487.

29. Wrobel M.R. Emotions in the software development process. In Proc. of the 6th International Conference on Human System Interactions (HSI), 2013, pp. 518-523.

30. Understanding Remote Software Engineering Jobs. Online, February 24, 2021, available at: https://www.interviewkickstart.com/blog/remote-software-engineering-jobs, accessed April 1, 2022.

31. Terminal. The State of Remote Engineering 2022 EDITION. Available at https://terminal.io/state-of-remote-engineering, accessed April 01, 2022.

32. Owl Labs. 2021 State of Remote Work Report. Available at https://owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work/2021, accessed April 1, 2022.

33. Juárez-Ramírez R., Navarro C.X. et al. How COVID-19 Pandemic affects Software Developers’ Wellbeing: An Exploratory Study in the West Border Area of Mexico-USA. In Proc. of the 9th International Conference in Software Engineering Research and Innovation (CONISOFT), 2021 pp. 112-121.

34. Serebrenik A. Emotional labor of software engineers. Proc. of the 16th BElgian-NEtherlands Software eVOLution Symposium, 2017, pp. 4-5.

35. Graziotin D., Wang X., Abrahamsson P. How do you feel, developer? An explanatory theory of the impact of affects on programming performance. PeerJ Computer Science, vol. 1, issue 1, 2015, article no. e18, 32 p.

36. Plutchik R., Kellerman H. Theory of emotion , vol. 1. Emotion: theory, research, and experience, Academic Press: London, 1980, 207 p.

37. Kleinginna P.R., Kleinginna A.M. A categorized list of emotion definitions, with suggestions for a consensual definition. Motivation and Emotion, vol. 5, issue 4, 1981, pp. 345-379.

38. Cabanac M. What is emotion? Behavioural Processes, vol. 60, issue 2, 2002, pp.69-83.

39. Parkinson B., Briner R. et al. Changing moods: The psychology of mood and mood regulation, Addison-Wesley Longman, 1996, 264 p.

40. VandenBos G.R., ed. APA dictionary of clinical psychology. American Psychological Association, 2012, 636 p.

41. Diener E. Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, vol. 95, issue 3, 1984, pp. 542-575.

42. Dogan T., Totan T., Sapmaz F. The Role Of Self-esteem, Psychological Well-being, Emotional Selfefficacy, And Affect Balance on Happiness: A Path Model. European Scientific Journal, vol. 9, issue 20, 2013, pp. 31-42.

43. Diener E., Wirtz D. W. et al. New Well-being Measures: Short Scales to Assess Flourishing and Positive and Negative Feelings. Social Indicators Research, vol. 97, issue 2, 2009, pp. 143-156.

44. Graziotin D., Fagerholm F. Happiness and the productivity of software engineers. In Rethinking Productivity in Software Engineering. Apress Open, 2019, pp. 109-124.

45. Graziotin D., Wang X., Abrahamsson P. Happy software developers solve problems better: psychological measurements in empirical software engineering. PeerJ, vol. 2, 2014, article no. 289, 23 p.

46. Graziotin D., Fagerholm F. et al. On the Unhappiness of Software Developers. In Proc. of the 21st International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, 2017, pp. 324-333,

47. Graziotin D., Wang X., Abrahamsson P. Software Developers, Moods, Emotions, and Performance. IEEE Software, vol. 31, issue 4, 2014, pp. 24-27.

48. Graziotin D., Fagerholm F. et al. What happens when software developers are (un)happy. Journal of Systems and Software, vol. 140, 2018. pp. 32-47.

49. Graziotin D., Fagerholm F. et al. Online appendix: the happiness of software developers. Figshare, 2017. Available at: https://figshare.com/collections/Online_appendix_the_happiness_of_software_developers/3355707, accessed June 01, 2021.

50. Sujová E., Cierna H. et al. Soft Skills Integration into Business Processes Based on the Requirements of Employers — Approach for Sustainable Education. Sustainability, vol. 13, issue 24, article no. 13807, 13 p.

51. Oeda S., Kosaku H. Development of a Check Sheet for Code-review towards Improvement of Skill Level of Novice Programmers. Procedia Computer Science, vol. 126, 2018, pp. 841-849.

52. Bocharov N.V. Concurrent Programming Technologies and Techniques. Programming and Computer Software, vol. 29, issue 1, 2003, pp. 2-12 / Бочаров Н.В. Технологии и техника параллельного программирования. Программироание, том 29, вып. 1, 2003 г., стр. 5-23.

53. Zavriev N.K Experience of teaching programming in the lyceum of information technologies. Programming and Computer Software, vol. 37, issue 6, 2011, pp. 288-291 / Завриев Н.К. Опыт изучения программирования в лицее информационных технологий. Программироание, том 37, вып. 6, 2011 г., стр. 19-25.

54. V’yukova N.I., Galatenko V.A., Samborskii S.V. Support for Parallel and Concurrent Programming in C++”. Programming and Computer Software, vol. 44, issue 1, 2018, pp. 35-42 / Вьюкова Н.И. Галатенко В.А., Самборский С.В. Gоддержка параллельного и конкурентного программирования в языке C++. Программироание, том 43, вып. 5, 2017 г., стр. 48-59..

55. Babić V., Slavković M. Soft and hard skills development: a current situation in Serbian companies. In Proc. of the International Conference on Management, Knowledge and Learning, 2011, pp. 407-414.

56. Raposo V.S., Dias Meireles M.A. et al. Soft Skills, evaluation by teachers and self-evaluation by students from academic study groups in basic, technical and technological education, Research, Society and Development, vol. 9, issue 11, 2020, article no. e66391110345, 13 p. (in in Portuguese (Brazilian)).

57. Durán M., Juárez-Ramírez R. et al. User Story Estimation Based on the Complexity Decomposition Using Bayesian Networks. Programming and Computer Software, vol. 46, issue 8, 2020, pp. 569-583 / Дуран М., Хуарес-Рамирес Р. и др. Оценка пользовательских историй на основе декомпозиции сложности с использованием байесовских сетей. Труды ИСП РАН, том 33, вып. 2, 2021 г., стр. 77-92. DOI: 10.15514/ISPRAS–2021–33(2)–4.

58. Cerezo-Narváez A., Bastante Ceca M.J., Yagüe Blanco J.L. Traceability of Intra- and Interpersonal Skills: From Education to Labor Market. In Human Capital and Competences in Project Management, IntechOpen, 2017, pp. 87-110.

59. Panth B., Maclean R. Introductory Overview: Anticipating and Preparing for Emerging Skills and Jobs— Issues, Concerns, and Prospects. In Anticipating and Preparing for Emerging Skills and Jobs: Key Issues, Concerns, and Prospects, Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol. 55, Springer, 2020, pp. 1-10.

60. Ignatowski C. What Works in Soft Skills Development for Youth Employment? A Donors’ Perspective. YEFG Steering Committee, 2017, 32 p. Available at: https://mastercardfdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/soft-skills-youth-employment-accessible2.pdf, accessed June 01, 2021.

61. James R.F., James M.L. Teaching career and technical skills in a ‘mini; business world. Business Education Forum, vol. 59, issue 2, 2004, pp. 39-41.

62. Perreault H. Using podcasts to develop skills for the global workplace. Business Education Forum, vol. 61, issue 3, 2007, pp. 59-61.

63. Fauzi R., Andreswari R. Business process analysis of programmer job role in software development using process mining. Procedia Computer Science, vol. 197, 2022, pp. 701-708.

64. Yang H.-L., Cheng H.-H. Creative self-efficacy and its factors: An empirical study of information system analysts and programmers. Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 25, 2009, pp. 429-438.

65. Schlichtera B.R., Buchynskab T. Soft skills of delivery managers in a co-sourced software project. Procedia Computer Science, vol. 181, 2021, pp. 905-912.

66. Amin A., Basri S. et al. The impact of personality traits and knowledge collection behavior on programmer creativity. Information and Software Technology, vol. 128, 2020, article no. 106405, 13 p.

67. Li W. Studying creativity and critical thinking skills at university and students’ future income. Thinking Skills and Creativity, vol. 43, 2022, article no. 100980, 16 p.

68. Younis A.A., Sunderraman R. et al. Developing parallel programming and soft skills: A project based learning approach. Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, vol. 158, 2021, pp. 151-163.

69. Corno F., De Russis L., Sáenz J.P. On the challenges novice programmers experience in developing IoT systems: A Survey. The Journal of Systems and Software, vol. 157, 2019, article no. 110389.

70. Hardy III J.H., Day E.A., Steele L.M. Interrelationships Among Self-Regulated Learning Processes: Toward a Dynamic Process-Based Model of Self- Regulated Learning. Journal of Management, vol 45, issue 8, 2019, pp. 3146-3177.

71. Ralph P., Baltes S. et al. Pandemic Programming: How COVID-19 affects software developers and how their organizations can help. Empirical Software Engineering, vol. 25, issue 6, 2020, pp. 4927-4961.

72. Perry S.J., Rubino C., Hunter E.M. Stress in remote work: two studies testing the demand-control-person model. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, vol. 27, issue 5, 2018, pp. 577-593.

73. Angus Reid Institute (ARI). Worry, gratitude & boredom: As covid-19 affects mental, financial health, who fares better; who is worse? Online: April 17, 2020, available at: http://angusreid.org/ covid19-mental-health/, accessed April 27, 2021.

74. Construx. WFH in the Age of Coronavirus Lessons for Today and Tomorrow. Online: May 1, 2020, available at: https://www.construx.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/WFH-in-the-Age-of-Coronavirus-Report-by-Construx.pdf, accessed May 30, 2021.

75. Russo D., Hanel P.H.P. et al. The Daily Life of Software Engineers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Proc. of the IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice (ICSE-SEIP), 2021, pp. 364-373.

76. Ford D., Storey M.-A. et al. A Tale of Two Cities: Software Developers Working from Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, vol. 31, issue 2, article no.: 27, 37 p.

77. Saputra N., Nasip I., Sudiana K. The Effect of Availability Digital Facility at Home on Work Productivity. In Proc. of the International Conference on Information Management and Technology (ICIMTech), 2021, pp. 783-788.

78. Butler J., Jaffe S. Challenges and Gratitude: A Diary Study of Software Engineers Working From Home During Covid-19 Pandemic. In Proc. of the IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice (ICSE-SEIP), 2021, pp. 362-363.