Engagement Is Key: Software Engineer Retention in Uncertain Times

In an uncertain climate, how do you keep your top engineers committed to your company?

For our 2025 State of Remote Engineering report, we surveyed more than 1,400 software engineers in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Canada. 54% are very satisfied or satisfied with their current jobs. Yet nearly all of them are planning to look for a new job within the next year, either actively (68%) or passively (24%).

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, fully remote workers are the most likely to be engaged at work (31%). But once they’re remote, how do you ensure strong engineer retention? While higher pay is, of course, the biggest motivation, our survey finds several other strategies for keeping employees engaged and thriving.

Why Is Engagement Critical for Software Developers?

24% of developers are happy at work, up from 20% last year, according to Stack Overflow’s 2025 Developer Survey finds. The survey also finds that the most important factors contributing to developer job satisfaction are autonomy/trust, competitive pay, and solving real-world problems.

Likewise, our survey shows that while most engineers are satisfied with their jobs, they still plan to look for new roles, primarily because they want higher salaries.

Money isn’t the same as engagement. However, it goes a long way toward improving job satisfaction and engineer retention.

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Still, it’s not the only way to keep developers happy at your company. With more and more businesses hiring global workers, you need to ensure that all your engineers feel included and engaged. That means that they are kept up to date on your company’s goings-on, they are a part of a team, and they are fully immersed in your culture.

Strategies to Promote Remote Software Engineer Retention

In our survey, global, remote engineers named several ways employers could better engage them at work. Along with stability (47%) and career growth opportunities (46%), engineers also suggest the following strategies.

Offer competitive pay.

The main reason why engineers look for a new job is higher pay (27%). In fact, US companies are appealing to global developers in regions like Europe, Latin America, and Canada for higher salary potential (84%).

The bottom line: Regardless of location, many engineers want competitive pay (55% rank this as extremely important ). Employers should conduct regular compensation reviews, communicate their total value, and stay up to date with market rates.

Learn more about global salary expectations.

Hold time-flexible meetings.

According to a study by Prithwiraj Choudhury at Harvard Business School, time zone differences can adversely affect communication between team members. He and his fellow researchers find that this challenge may be exacerbated for some groups, such as women with caregiving responsibilities, because in some cases, they must shift communication outside of business hours in their time zones.

In our study, 55% of engineers say that time-flexible meetings are key. By ensuring time flexibility, you can prevent engineers from having to meet at difficult times, such as late at night or very early in the morning. It’s also important for employers to exercise patience and understand the limitations of global communication.

“You’ll have to set expectations and train people, especially managers, that they cannot expect answers instantaneously,” Choudhury says. “You’ll have to be patient and wait for the person who is sleeping in Tokyo to wake up and read your question before they can answer it in Slack.”

Establish clear and transparent communication channels.

More than half (53%) of engineers in our survey encourage employers to offer multiple methods of communication, such as messaging platforms and videoconferencing tools. 

Want all the latest insights from 1,000s of global engineers? Get the State of Remote Engineering

Since tone can be difficult to communicate and gauge over text alone, a LinkedIn study advises businesses to emphasize face-to-face communication where possible, using video calls for the most important discussions. However, be careful about overutilizing videoconferencing tools, since being on camera comes with its own drawbacks, including video fatigue. Clearly state when team members should use each channel to avoid confusion, check in frequently, and ensure team members have a way to get in touch with you if they have questions or concerns.

Hold frequent team-building activities across regions.

Remote engineers can feel isolated. Perhaps that’s why 50% of engineers in our study want more team-building activities across regions. 

One study finds that some of the biggest challenges with remote work include the absence of team cohesion, isolation, perceived inequalities, and concerns with trust and accountability. To create a more inclusive remote culture, LinkedIn suggests activities like virtual happy hours and virtual watercoolers.

These exercises can engage remote teammates who will likely never meet in person. Through these opportunities, employees can get to know one another, even if they are not in the same geographic vicinity.

Provide cultural immersion opportunities.

With the rise of global teams comes the need for cross-cultural awareness. Cultural intelligence and intercultural communication skills are pivotal for bridging divides and ensuring respect for diverse teams. They are also essential for accomplishing goals together.

Our survey shows that many global engineers want opportunities to better understand team members. Nearly half (46%) would appreciate language-learning opportunities. Meanwhile, 45% say they would benefit from mentorship programs that bridge cultural differences and employee exchange programs or shadowing opportunities (40%). These types of opportunities also facilitate team bonding.

Conclusion: Promote Engineer Retention

Remote software teams are the new norm. But it’s not enough to hire global engineers and call it a day. To ensure retention, you must demonstrate appreciation for your development team members. Higher pay is important, of course, but engagement is key, too. This fosters team-building and cohesion—and helps you keep your engineers happy at work.