[2020] Are the devs ever going to reduce the grind in this game?

They've answered this in their most recent Q&A. They are aware of the grind being a lot, even if they have made changes to it. It is known more work might need to be done to it, like changing perk tiers to be consistent across the board, but in terms of a major change there are some ideas, but nothing coming up for now. Those ideas can't be shared yet and it's for the best to not expect something within the next 6 to 9 months.