Why would there be any pressure if everyone knows what they are doing and the projects are accurately estimated? If there's pressure, or even high pressure, then it implies what they are currently doing is not working, why would any good programmer want to join a team like that? Are these kind of job posting failed at trying to show off or are they really just being honest? Or is there really some good reasons for having pressure?
why do some job posts say high pressure environment?
project management
Example high pressure job: High frequency algorithmic trading. A software engineer friend of mine is working for a trading shop. Huge stress, huge pressure. All deadlines are right now. Everything is shipped to production on the day it's written. Even a few minute delay could cost the company millions. Not many people can handle an environment like this. If you can do it, expect a 50-100% higher salary than industry standard at your level + end-of-year bonus based on % of your algos' profits. It's super high-risk, high-pressure, high reward. It has nothing to do with unrealistic deadlines or lacking management, and everything to do with your ability to handle the pressure. (And traders swearing at your face as their P&L goes down the crapper that day.)Other examples:Jobs where producing the kind of software with high-requirements for dependendability:medical software,embedded software.Jobs where deliverables (and failures) would have:a direct and large impact on people,a direct and large impact on the company's image.Alternatively, it's not necessarily just code for we're under-resourced and have unrealistically aggressive deadlines, but also possibly code for your responsibility makes you an expendable liability if anything goes awry.