Engineers Spend Only 16% of Time Coding Despite It Being Most Rewarding Work, Survey Finds
Summary
Engineers spend only 16% of their time actually coding despite 93% finding it most rewarding, with maintenance tasks consuming the rest of their workdays, while AI automation helps reclaim 3-6 hours weekly amid growing burnout concerns affecting 35% of developers.
Key Points
- Chainguard survey reveals engineers spend only 16% of their time writing code despite 93% saying it's the most rewarding part of their jobs, with the remaining 84% consumed by maintenance tasks and technical debt
- 65% of organizations have automated common engineering tasks with AI helping engineers reclaim 3-6 hours per week, though trust gaps persist as 40% cite security and accountability concerns as adoption barriers
- Tech leaders express concern about talent retention as 35% of engineers report burnout from excessive workloads, while companies like Chainguard invest heavily in AI agents to handle maintenance work autonomously