Getting into the minds of today's embedded developer

Richard Nass

March 23, 2009

Richard Nass

MANHASSET, NY — TechInsights, the company behind the Embedded Systems Conference (and my employer) and the publisher of EE Times, recently conducted a poll among people who will be attending the upcoming Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose which begins on March 30th.

It asked questions related to the current state of the economy, and how that has affected them, both personally and professionally.

For example, the survey asked whether "you are concerned about losing your job." The responses were (paraphrased): yes, I am (17%), very much so (11%), somewhat so (28%), and not at all (43%).

It's nice to see that the largest response came from the group that was not concerned at all. But the other three responses can be grouped together, indicating that there is definitely "some" level of concern over people's jobs, 56% of the responses.

Another question the poll asked was whether developers are working harder and longer hours as a result of a layoff at their company. "Only" 45% of those polled said that this was the case for them.

In another, "what has your company done to adapt to the recession?" The top responses were exploring new ways to compete; looking for new markets; trying to get better prices for components; and trying to cost-reduce the design process. Interestingly, at the bottom of the list was outsourcing.

How complete is the information your company has about the recession and its impact on your business? Only 41% think that their company has a clear understanding of how and why we are in this recession. About a third (32%) said that their company understands some of the factors. While 8% say that the causes are completely unclear.

How about that now famous Stimulus Package? How likely is your company to benefit from it? About one-third (30%) said unlikely, while just 8% said that it was likely. The remaining developers were unsure.

Finally, the survey asked the most important question: When will the conditions get better? In true developer-honesty fashion, the largest response (29%) said "I don't know." The next largest response, 23%, said within 12 months. If this question had been asked of me, I would have joined the 12% that said within six months.

The complete survey results will be available to ESC attendees after the conference. Send me a note at rnass@techinsights.com if you're interested.

— Richard Nass is director of Content/Media at TechInsights.