Are ‘ghost engineers’ stunting productivity in software development? Researchers claim nearly 10% of engineers do "virtually nothing" and are a drain on enterprises

Just under a tenth (9.5%) of software engineers do almost no work, according to new research from academics at Stanford University.

One researcher, Yegor Denisov-Blanch, posted the findings to his X account, dubbing the staff who work less than 10% as hard as the median engineer as ‘ghost’ engineers.

These engineers do “virtually nothing,” Denisov-Blanch said, and it’s possible that some may even have multiple jobs.

The report used data from more than 50,000 engineers at hundreds of different companies. According to the paper itself, the researchers collected this data specifically from private commercial repositories and public repositories.

The research was undertaken to help automate the code review process via the use of an algorithm developed by the researchers. It was inspired, in part, by the demand for efficient software development practices.

“Manual code reviews are an essential but time-consuming part of software development, often leading reviewers to prioritize technical issues while skipping valuable assessments,” the researchers said.

“This paper presents an algorithmic model that automates aspects of code review typically avoided due to their complexity or subjectivity, such as assessing coding time, implementation time, and code complexity,” they added.

The research ultimately concluded that its algorithmic approach could offer a more effective and more comprehensive method for monitoring the productivity among engineers.

If engineers are slacking, then why is burnout rampant?

The claim that almost 10% of engineers aren’t pulling their weight appears to clash with the reality of life for developers and engineers across the industry, many of whom are overworked, stressed, and burned out.

Research from JetBrains found that nearly half (47%) of developers are now turning to mental and physical health applications to help cope with the onset of burnout from their roles.

Just over half of developers said that burnout is the primary reason for their colleagues to leave jobs, according to research from software firm Harness. Other research from Harness said high levels of burnout are causing businesses to spend as much as $1 trillion annually, underlining the significant strain placed on enterprises due to deteriorating wellbeing.

With 23% of developers reportedly working overtime for at least 10 days a month, there is evidently a large part of the developer workforce that is operating very differently from the ghost engineers detailed by Stanford researchers.

But workforce slackers are a genuine problem, with research showing that some workers do fake productivity levels

A recent study from Asana found that a significant portion of workers across a range of industries engage in what’s known as ‘productivity theater’, whereby they perform tasks to give the illusion of appearing productive.

Even if a small portion of a broader workforce is unproductive, this can have serious issues down the line. Asana's research showed this trend has a major impact on workforce efficiency, places a heavier burden on colleagues, and thereby contributes to heightened stress levels among productive workers

Developer productivity in the spotlight

Productivity among software developers, like other roles, has long been under scrutiny, and in recent years organizations have ramped up the use of AI tools to help drive it up.

Research from GitHub revealed that over 97% of developers have used AI coding tools in their workflow, with many noting they deliver more secure software and better code quality.

Alternative research from the firm - focusing specifically on its own GitHub Copilot tool - showed developers using the coding assistant completed tasks 55% faster than devs operating without the tool.

Meanwhile, similar research from Stack Overflow found AI coding tools are also helping to drive developer productivity.

In a recent survey, 71% of respondents cited the increased speed of code learning as a major benefit of AI. 61% of established professional developers also said this was a benefit.