I’m a junior developer just a few months into my first full time job. At full strength, our department is at 10 developers, including the lead.
We were down one developer who has yet to be replaced a week after I joined (recruiting is still trying to get a replacement). Three weeks ago, our lead left (he didn’t like management). Another quit a week ago. We are losing another next week and another in two weeks.
One of the survivors is being promoted to lead, which is also transforming away from a direct coding position (the past lead caused a lot of friction by holing up in his office).
Two of the survivors also do exclusively mobile. So while we will be down to 4 out of 10 devs, it’s down to 2/8 in operations. The lead will help out as much as he can, but that’s maybe 2.5.
The other problem is that I will be the only dev left working on a core system for our business.
For context: this is not at a podunk startup. It’s government, so we aren’t going down due to a lack of an investor. The particular projects we work on are also the money making kind, so it wouldn’t be part of a recent budget cut.
I’m thinking of leaving because I don’t want to be in a mess, but it was pointed out to me that I’m now the only dev with much working knowledge of the system and thus it could quickly become my project. Problem is, I am not sure I actually have the skill required to complete it myself. I’ve held my own in sprints, but who knows what else they might want?
The reasons they left aren’t really to do with the department. A mix of reasons. One guy didn’t like management. Another didn’t get the lead position, so is leaving over that. A third got married.
What opportunities and risks exist to staying? Specifically, what are the risks and opportunities of being (at least for two months) the only developer on a project as a junior?