Why IT Pros Are Feeling Less Stressed About Work

By Dennis McCafferty | Posted 2016-06-16

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Why IT Pros Are Feeling Less Stressed About Work

IT pros are far less likely to be on call 24/7 than they were two years ago. And, when they are on vacation, they're not fielding work phone calls and emails.
Pressure Eases Up

Just 16% of the IT pros surveyed consider the work they're currently doing the most stressful in their career, down from 31% who felt this way in 2014.
Stressful Aspects of an IT Job

Need to keep up with organization requests/workload: 35%, Impact on work-life balance: 30%, Requirements to keep up with technologies: 22%
Increased Detachment

Only 18% of the IT pros said they're expected to be accessible "24/7 … no excuses," during a normal work week. That's down from 36% two years ago.
Work Break

83% said they are not expected to be available at all for business matters while on vacation, up from 64% who said this in 2014.
Out of Pocket

Only 23% of the respondents answer all work-related phone calls when they come in during vacation, and just 10% respond to nearly all emails.
Fleeing Stress

58% said that a stressful experience at work has motivated them at least once to seek employment elsewhere, but that's down from 74% who indicated this two years ago.
Exploring Options

43% of the respondents said they've at least considered taking a lesser-paying position in order to escape stress levels at work, but that's down from 58% who said this in 2014.
Fulfillment Factor

44% consider the work they are currently doing to be the most satisfying of their career, up from 40% who thought so in 2014.
Total Engagement

73% of the IT pros surveyed are proud that they chose IT as a career and are proud of their current role, assignments and responsibilities—up from 60% who felt this way two years ago.
No Regrets

84% said they'd still go into IT if they had to "do it all over again," and that's up from 77% who said this in 2014.
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Far fewer technology employees feel overwhelmed with stress these days, according to TEKsystems' annual "IT Stress and Pride" survey. Findings show significant improvements on this front in multiple areas. For one thing, IT pros are far less likely to be expected to be on call 24/7 during the work week than they were two years ago. And, when they are on vacation, more tech staffers are actually enjoying their vacation, rather than fielding phone calls and emails from the office. Even more significantly, a greater number consider the current work they're doing as the most satisfying of their career, and many are proud that they chose IT as their vocation. "The last two years have been a time of lower stress levels for IT professionals," said Jason Hayman, research manager for TEKsystems. "IT may be focused on maintaining core IT programs while overall trends—appropriate staffing levels, decentralization of new [line-of-business] LOB-focused IT programs, outsourcing, BYOD [bring-your-own-device] initiatives and others—have all contributed to allowing workloads to be reasonable. The big picture looks positive in terms of IT professionals' satisfaction with their career choice and outlook toward future options." More than 240 U.S. tech employees took part in the research.

Dennis McCafferty is a freelance writer for Baseline Magazine.