this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
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Software Developer Worker Organization

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Discuss the human side of Software Development. What works, what doesn't. What do companies do that helps, what do they do that hurts. Tips and warnings for those that are new to the industry. How can we make our field and work better for ourselves? When should we push back? What boundaries work for you?

Who counts as a Software Developer for this community:

  1. Programmer or equivalent (Software Engineers, Developers, Coders, Scripters, Web Developers)
  2. Tester or equivalent (QA Engineers, Test Runners, Verification Champions or Engineers ...)
  3. System Engineers or equivalent (Requirements Writers, ...)
  4. Low level management of 1, 2, and 3
  5. Mid level management of 1, 2, and 3 if you treat this space with respect, but your interests are going to be questioned.

Basically, if you work on code or any other asset that goes into a software project, you are a Software Developer.

Rules

  1. Don't be a jerk!
  2. We are all in this together, we all have the same problems, we all live in the same system.
  3. No hate against those developers who cost less to employ, produce lower quality output, or are from a different country. See rule 2.
  4. No hate against those who's identities are different than our own. Women, men, and/or whatever. See rule 2.
  5. Discussions should be based on the current systems we live in, or clearly marked as not currently feasible. For better or worse we live in the world of global capital. Ideas like "All companies should be worker owned" are great, but are not useful to workers at this time.
  6. People have value even if they don't produce or don't make money.
  7. Solutions involving replacing people with AI is not allowed. It is ok to talk about AI as a tool used by software developers. See 6.
  8. No fed posting, no discussion of assassination, no discussion of killing coworkers or bosses. Discussions like this don't help anyone and they limit the usefulness of this community.

It is important to remember that if Software Development becomes less lucrative it will result in less of us having jobs, but we do deserve to be happy while we work. So there is a balance here.

There are political things that can be done to improve things as well. This community will only focus on those things that directly affect Software Development. For a more general political approach see other communities.

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Warning about Companies who are open with Mental Health (midwest.social)
submitted 2 days ago by deaf_fish@midwest.social to c/SoftwareDeveloperWorkerOrganization@midwest.social
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I work for a smallish 200 person development company who have been pushing Mental Health lately. Some of the managers were sharing their own stories. It seemed like there was some training going around with the upper management.

I struggle with burnout and that was a topic that was talked about. It seemed encouraging. But I also understand that there are some conflicts of interest between what is best for me vs the company.

So I brought up that I was struggling with burnout during my review process. Turns out a couple of weeks later I was told that I should answer the question "Why I love working at [Company]?" that finding the love would help solve my burnout. That made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Whatever response I would be in the HR system.

Obviously, I could have pushed forward more and found out what happened, but I just want to work and get paid, I am in a good place right now, and I don't "Love" my company, but I don't think I will find another company that I will also "Love".

I think it is time to stand on business, mask (autism) up, and boundary up.

My company will be getting a wonderful love letter in response to "Why I love working at [Company]?". I hate to lie, but I like to eat, and changing jobs is a pain. I'm worried I might be too proud to keep this up for too long. But we will see.

As a takeaway, if you are in a company deciding to be more open about Mental Health, make sure you are not putting your people in a position where they self-report themselves. You are just weeding out the dumb honest employees from your company. The rest of the employees will turn into yes people.

I hope this helps some people.

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[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 2 days ago

That's horrible but not unheard off.

My company was very open about mental health, we had open talks between workers, and all was good. But at some point, I think an undesired critical mass of people with mental disorders (from autism and adhd, to burn out and depression) was reached and suddenly talking about it was no longer OK. It was "bringing the mood down".

Managers started cutting down on opening up too much to colleagues. Disciplinary action was applied to people who didn't comply, disguised as "performance improvement plans" to "improve their communication". Complaining about this publicly led to more PIPs, and eventually firings. 3 of the most vocal people about mental health were fired because "they didn't fit the company culture". Now the company offers free therapy which you are invited to use in private.

So yeah. Companies only care about mental health to a point.