OP here. I've worked at two embedded software shops, and every time we are working on a new product and cramming to get it shipped, we run out of code space. Each of those times, PR's stay open for 2-3 weeks waiting to be merged until engineers can work their magic and reduce the size.

I've even seen instances where deals take place. We'll clean up our module today and you can merge your 1k feature, but we'll need 1k in 2 weeks and you need to find it for us by then.

Software engineers usually laugh when I tell them about my struggles with code space and memory. I do enjoy it though.