Title
Pandemic programming: How COVID-19 affects software developers and how their organizations can help
Author
Ralph, Paul (Dalhousie University)
Baltes, Sebastian (University of Adelaide)
Adisaputri, Gianisa (Dalhousie University)
Torkar, Richard (Chalmers University of Technology; University of Gothenburg; Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study)
Kovalenko, V.V. (JetBrains) 
Kalinowski, Marcos (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro)
Novielli, Nicole (University of Bari Aldo Moro)
Yoo, Shin (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
Devroey, Xavier (TU Delft Software Engineering)
Tan, Xin (Peking University)
Zhou, Minghui (Peking University)
Turhan, Burak (Monash University; University of Oulu)
Hoda, Rashina (Monash University)
Hata, Hideaki (Nara Institute of Science and Technology)
Robles, Gregorio (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos)
Milani Fard, Amin (New York Institute of Technology)
Alkadhi, Rana (King Saud University)
Date
2020
Abstract
Context: As a novel coronavirus swept the world in early 2020, thousands of software developers began working from home. Many did so on short notice, under difficult and stressful conditions.
Objective: This study investigates the effects of the pandemic on developers’ wellbeing and productivity.
Method: A questionnaire survey was created mainly from existing, validated scales and translated into 12 languages. The data was analyzed using non-parametric inferential statistics and structural equation modeling.
Results: The questionnaire received 2225 usable responses from 53 countries. Factor analysis supported the validity of the scales and the structural model achieved a good fit (CFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.051, SRMR = 0.067). Confirmatory results include: (1) the pandemic has had a negative effect on developers’ wellbeing and productivity; (2) productivity and wellbeing are closely related; (3) disaster preparedness, fear related to the pandemic and home office ergonomics all affect wellbeing or productivity. Exploratory analysis suggests that: (1) women, parents and people with disabilities may be disproportionately affected; (2) different people need different kinds of support.
Conclusions: To improve employee productivity, software companies should focus on maximizing employee wellbeing and improving the ergonomics of employees’ home offices. Women, parents and disabled persons may require extra support.
Subject
COVID-19
Crisis management
Disaster management
Emergency management
Pandemic
Productivity
Questionnaire
Software development
Structural equation modeling
Wellbeing
Work from home
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f50bd1f1-e48e-4c37-8ec1-7369f70af7e7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-020-09875-y
ISSN
1573-7616
Source
Empirical Software Engineering, 25 (6), 4927-4961
Part of collection
Institutional Repository
Document type
journal article
Rights
© 2020 Paul Ralph, Sebastian Baltes, Gianisa Adisaputri, Richard Torkar, V.V. Kovalenko, Marcos Kalinowski, Nicole Novielli, Shin Yoo, Xavier Devroey, Xin Tan, Minghui Zhou, Burak Turhan, Rashina Hoda, Hideaki Hata, Gregorio Robles, Amin Milani Fard, Rana Alkadhi