IT Professionals Are Less Stressed
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IT Professionals Are Less Stressed
By Dennis McCafferty -
Smoother Waters
Only 11% of entry- to mid-level IT professionals and 13 percent of senior IT pros surveyed said the work they are currently doing is the most stressful of their career, down from 31% last year. -
Free Time
Only 13% said they're expected to be accessible for work 24/7—with no excuses—down from 36% in 2014. -
Clean Break
84% of respondents said they are not expected to be available for work while on vacation, up from 64% last year. -
Turning Point
58% of the tech pros said they've had a stressful experience at work that's caused them to seek employment elsewhere, but that's down from 74% in 2014. -
Salary Dip
44% said they've considered taking a new position with a pay decrease in order to escape stress levels at work, down from 58% last year. -
Stressful Aspects of an IT Career
Staying current with technology: 32%, Keeping up with requests/workload: 28%, Managing work-life balance: 27%, Interacting with co-workers and supervisors: 13% -
Job Satisfaction
45% of IT pros said they consider the work they're currently doing to be the most satisfying of their career, up from 40% last year. -
Career Pride
79% said they are proud of their IT career, as well as their current role, assignments and responsibilities. That's up from 60% in 2014. -
No Regrets
87% of the respondents said that if they could do it all over again, they'd still go into IT as a career, up from 77% last year.
You may or may not be aware of "Geek Pride Day," which is celebrated every year on May 25th to commemorate (appropriately enough) the release of Star Wars in 1977. As part of the tradition, TEKsystems has released its third annual "IT Stress and Pride" survey. This year's report presents very encouraging results: Stress levels among technology professionals are significantly lower than last year's, and job satisfaction is up. Few IT pros are seeking work elsewhere because of pressure at the current job, and the vast majority of them are actually able to take vacations without being expected to remain accessible and accountable to colleagues and managers. "We've seen a significant drop in stress and a positive swing in pride and satisfaction," said Jason Hayman, research manager at TEKsystems. "While it's encouraging, organizations still need to ensure that their talent management and workforce strategies are aligned to avoid overworked staff, unrealistic workloads [and] internal discord if they want to continue this positive momentum." More than 1,090 IT professionals—the majority of whom are at a senior level—took part in the research.