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#Management

LeadDev’s Engineering Leadership Report 2025 (Category Management)

#Management #Leadership #Engineering #Software #Processes

I read LeadDev’s March report on engineering leadership with interest. It is based on a survey of 600+ leaders conducted in March this year. LeadDev was founded in 2013 and focuses on developing engineering leadership. It organizes conferences and meetups in technology hubs worldwide, aiming to help technical managers, lead engineers, and CTOs become more effective.

The survey ran from 14 to 27 March 2025:

  • Respondents: 617.
  • Geography: USA 34%, UK 20%, Germany 10%, Canada 6%, Asia 4%, others 6%.
  • Roles: engineering managers 37%, managers of managers 18%, advanced engineers 14%, software engineers 12%, tech leads 9%, CTOs 6%, others 3%.
  • Organization size: 21% worked in companies with [1000, 5000) people, another 21% in companies with [5000, ∞), and 16% in companies with [100, 250), down to 5% in startups with fewer than 20 people.

The main findings:

  • Some 65% worry about recession, reflecting broader concern in the technology sector. Concern about fewer available jobs rose from 48% in 2024 to 53% in 2025.
  • Layoffs and hiring freezes declined by 17 percentage points: 67% of companies experienced them in 2024, compared with 50% in 2025.
  • Flatter management structures. Among companies reducing manager numbers, 67% cut frontline managers, 56% cut middle managers, and 18% affected senior management.
  • Changing engineering-leadership roles. Some 65% reported broader responsibilities, and 40% gained more direct reports. As a result, 38% worked longer hours. Similar figures appeared in 2024, but these measures rose by 3–4 percentage points. Some 58% spent more time communicating with teams, customers, and stakeholders, while 26% spent less time writing and reviewing code.
  • Motivation and burnout. Some 40% thought their teams were less motivated to come to work than 12 months earlier.
  • AI’s impact. Some 53% had added AI features to their products in the past 12 months. Some 58% of engineering leaders were considering AI coding tools, but 60% did not believe AI had significantly increased their teams’ productivity.
  • Attitudes toward DEI. Only 5% of organizations eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the previous year, despite prominent headlines about big-tech rollbacks.

I would divide the resulting advice into two groups.

For engineering leaders

  • Develop communication and change-management skills as communication takes up more time.
  • Address burnout proactively.
  • Rethink how you motivate your team.

For organizations

  • Invest in managers’ development. As management positions are cut, those who remain carry more responsibility. Give them tools and support to lead larger teams effectively.
  • Assess AI’s potential realistically and communicate it clearly to teams.
  • Balance efficiency with employee well-being.

An interesting report overall, although it did not give me any particularly new insights.

#Leadership #Engineering #Management #Software #Processes