[s188]

Airline pilots have a legal limit to the number of hours they can work per month. I think this is mostly to avoid the consequences of mental exhaustion (rather than emotional exhaustion) such as in the Colgan Air Disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgan_Air_Flight_3407 An interesting quote in that article is: "NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman, while concurring, made it clear that she considered fatigue to be a contributing factor." I've often wondered if there should be a similar rule for software developers. We're required to maintain high levels of concentration for extended periods, day in, day out, month after month. I'm sure this leads to a kind of burnout that goes undiagnosed and which must, at some level, be detrimental to an employer. Is there value in limiting time spent on solving difficult software problems? Say, 30 hours a week for problem solving and 10 for training?

[dlphn___xyz]

devs are treated as ‘burn and churn’ resources - work conditions are similar to a sweatshop because there is a huge, inexpensive pool of applicants

[s188]

Yep. That's my experience too. But ‘burn and churn’ thrives in the absence of decent human resource management. Is it possible to link 'problem complexity' to 'concentration demands'? And from that, derive a metric that will enable better management of the human resource?

[krageon]

It would help if you defined what is to you "decent human resource management", as for most HR divisions I've seen this appears to mean "churn and burn".

[fuzz4lyfe]

My theory is that managers who are working today learned their craft when unemployment was at 8 - 10% and it shows in turnover.