LeadDev

Block’s massive AI-driven layoff is a warning Are the layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s firm an anomaly or an indication of a broader disruption at the hands of AI?

Our thoughts are with anyone impacted at Block this week: leaddev.com/hiring/block...

No backlog, no tickets, no deadlines.

What would your team build with a week to think?

We asked speakers at @leaddev.com Berlin and the answers didn’t disappoint. 👀

Meet the tech workers taking a stand against ICE Hundreds of tech workers are turning up the pressure on their employers.

While most CEOs are remaining silent, there is a groundswell of anti-ICE pressure growing amongst tech workers, and a handful of leaders willing to speak out: leaddev.com/culture/meet...

Breaking down Trump’s massive H-1B visa changes Another seismic blow to the US tech hiring landscape as Trump cracks down on the H-1B visa

Donald Trump's H-1B changes will make a material difference to US tech hiring, but Europe is waiting in the wings. “It’s a massive net positive,” Markus Villig from Bolt, the Estonian unicorn, told me in his Tallinn offices. My latest for @leaddev.com leaddev.com/hiring/break...

Are you paying the AI competence penalty? Devs who use AI are rated 9% less competent on average than their peers, a new study suggests. And the competency penalty is harsher for women.

Give the exact same bit of Python code to a developer and ask it to assess the person who produced it, and they'll say the person is 9% worse at their job if they admit to using AI. For @leaddev.com, I dug into the AI competence penalty leaddev.com/career-devel...

AI doesn't make devs as productive as they think, study finds A new study raises serious questions about how perceptions of AI assisted productivity translate into results.

Great research by @metr.org highlighting how ineffective developers can be at estimating their own productivity: leaddev.com/velocity/ai-... by @stokel.bsky.social

What the end of Section 174 means for software developer hiring New US law brings in significant tax changes, which could change the face of hiring.

leaddev.com/hiring/end-s...

Is AI code sabotaging its own ROI case? Charity Majors, CTO at Honeycomb, argues that the biggest value from AI is from rethinking how teams operate software across the lifecycle.

"I feel like we’re in the twilight of the DevOps movement,” @charity.wtf in conversation with @doerrfeldbill.bsky.social:
leaddev.com/technical-di...

Layoff anxiety is rife and employee confidence is at an all-time low according to @glassdoor.bsky.social. How are engineering managers expected to lead in this environment? @kelkord.bsky.social reports.
leaddev.com/management/h...

LeadDev Engineering Leadership Survey 2025 Take the survey and share your engineering insights with peers.

The LeadDev Engineering Leadership report is back for 2025 and we need your help! 🫵
Take the short survey to help us understand:
- How engineering orgs & roles have been changing?
- How is AI impacting engineering team roles?
- Key industry trends
whiteoctoberevents.acemlna.com/lt.php?x=3DZ...

Crypto is hiring developers. Interested? With tech hiring in a big freeze, crypto roles are looking more and more attractive to developers, but is it worth the risk?

Crypto has largely weathered the layoffs storm impacting the tech industry. Is it a safe haven for developers?
Delighted to welcome @karivmcmahon.bsky.social as a contributor to @leaddev.com.
leaddev.com/career-devel...

How the scales tipped against tech workers The bosses are back in charge and expectations for what a job in tech looks like is changing rapidly. Is the industry losing its lustre?

"Where software engineers used to be hot commodities, the power has suddenly shifted back to employers."
@kelkord.bsky.social on the monumental vibe shift impacting the tech industry.
leaddev.com/culture/how-...

How AI generated code accelerates technical debt GitClear’s latest report exposes rising code duplication and declining quality as AI coding tools gain in popularity.

leaddev.com/software-qua...

An important trend for engineering managers to keep an eye on 👀

How banks caught up in the battle for developer talent In the battle for technical talent, who will win the battle of big banks vs big tech jobs?

Did the banks catch up, or FAANG fall behind? @jfruh.bsky.social looks into the Wall Street Journal claim that “the coolest job in tech might actually be at a bank"
leaddev.com/hiring/how-b...

Anthropic doesn't want job applicants using AI during the application process. Please head straight to Irony Corner, do not collect £200.

simonwillison.net/2025/Feb/2/a...

Conway’s law, the 80-20 rule, and other principles engineering managers should know 11 laws that you don't want to be in the dark about. Understand these core principles and watch your leadership approach flourish.

Have you ever just nodded along in a meeting when someone mentions one of these? Yeah, us neither: leaddev.com/management/c...

Be careful with ‘open source’ AI Open source AI models may be appealing for developers, but there are still plenty of complex risks to assess.

Apropos of nothing, it feels like a good time to repost this: leaddev.com/technical-di... by @doerrfeldbill.bsky.social

Yep, we're working on it!

What is diff authoring time? Diff authoring time is a popular developer productivity metric at Meta, used to measure the time it takes to create code changes.

⏱️ My latest for @leaddev.com explores #Meta's trending #DeveloperProductivity metric of DAT: Diff Authoring Time. How to measure when not all Diffs are the same and the implications if you measure at the individual level.

What do you think?

leaddev.com/reporting/wh...

DeepSeek-ing missile

Meta and the great DEI rollback Once an emblem of inclusivity, Meta has officially joined tech’s anti-DEI bandwagon. Will the rest of the industry take its lead?

Meta's very public rollback of DEI efforts is a line in the sand moment for the industry, leaving organisations with a choice: follow the herd, or fight an increasingly uphill battle. @kelkord.bsky.social lays it all out: leaddev.com/hiring/meta-...

Factorio and the promise of better software engineering Just why is the video game Factorio so appealing to software developers and can it help them get better at their jobs?

Welcome to Factorio, the only game which could single handedly threaten the productivity of your entire dev team: leaddev.com/career-devel... by @kelkord.bsky.social

We're hiring! I'm incredibly excited to add a staff writer to the @leaddev.com team to help shape our editorial voice and reach more engineering leaders with our content: www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/41...

What engineering managers need to know for 2025 Here are 9 things engineering managers need to know about the state of the software industry as we move into 2025.

With only a few hours of 2024 left, here are 9 things engineering leaders should look out for in 2025, from a weird hiring landscape and the rise of agentic AI, to a new approach to meetings and the growing influence of Gen Z in the workplace: leaddev.com/career-devel...

How to measure the impact of engineering in 2025 As we look to 2025, here’s four trends to look out for when it comes to measuring developer productivity.

🍇 How to measure the impact of engineering in 2025 leaddev.com/reporting/ho...
On @leaddev.com #2025predictions

Who’s afraid of ghost jobs The technology industry is haunted by ghost jobs, but why do companies post them and can managers do anything to exorcise them?

leaddev.com/hiring/whos-...

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Framing AI rollouts in the right light How can you introduce AI into teams in a way that doesn't invite unrest within your org? It starts with presenting it in the right light.

Introducing AI is all about framing it in a positive light, says @gitlab.com CTO Sabrina Farmer. This month's edition of #DirectorPlus on @leaddev.com explores some top-notch advice on framing AI rollouts.
leaddev.com/technical-di...