Blog #5: The Impact of Stress and Burnout in Tech Jobs

Introduction

            With an increasing number of job employment for tech engineers, stress and burnout are increasing as well. Stress is the beginning that leads to the final stage, burnout. Stress is a condition that an individual feels when they cannot handle situations and emotions anymore but still have hope that it will be better and can be overcome. On the other hand, burnout is similar but less engaging and more deadly. Stress may kill an individual prematurely and can lead to anxiety, but burnout may make life not worth living anymore, and leads to detachment and depression. In short, there is still hope in stress, but not in burnout. These conditions are more prevalent in tech jobs.

Overview of Tech Burnout

            With tech jobs being around-the-clock on-call, knowledge orientated work, and quick-thinking solutions to business issues; researchers found that the rate of burnout is significantly higher among technology professions. This career lifestyle creates dangerous work exhaustion, which is a major trigger to depersonalization and diminishing achievements (Cook, 2015). Burnout is categorized in many different models, but the focus is on three components that drive burnout. The three are first is emotional exhaustion, second is depersonalization, and third is inefficacy.

            The most common factors to burnout that an individual is prone to work overload. Two classified types of work overload that tech workers face are either quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative overload is amount of work that must be finish in a short timeframe. Qualitative work occurs when the job requirements exceed skill level. Both of these factors are prominent in tech jobs. With quantitative and qualitative work overload, techies (short for tech workers) face exhaustive time pressure that can cause a variety of physiological, psychological, and behavioral strains. If not properly dealt with, work overload may lead to fatal mental and physical health issues, such as depression, accidents, fatigue, and other negative consequences. For the body to cope with work overload, techies are most likely to feel a distance from their work and themselves along with developing cynical attitudes, which are part of many characteristics of burnout (Cook, 2015).

             When working at tech companies, tech workers do not have the freedom to choose their projects and work. They are often working based on whichever job description requirements that fits their skills, and work based on what is assigned to them. A lack of participation in decision-making has been shown to cause work exhaustion, which is also a link to making depersonalization, second component of burnout (Cook, 2015).

            Another skillset that techies must handle are quick to learning ongoing new technology and computer languages. This is all done all their own without support from their supervisors and coworkers. From this lack of support in the work environment, workers, later on, have poor performance, and unpleasant encounter with others when there is less feedback (Cook, 2015). Without any affirmation, there is a lack of personal accomplishments, also known as inefficacy that is the third component of burnout.
Risk Factors for Burnout

             Burnout leads to diseases, psychological damage, and physical strains. To elevate towards burnout, risk factors depends on gender, age, education, occupational grade, and martial status in the work force (Ahola, 2007). A majority of tech workers who are under the age of 35 years old, receives a bachelors or higher, single, and working for more than five years in a high position are more sooner to reach burnout as the work years continue. If a worker was to be female, over 35 years old, only bachelors or less, low work position, and married, they are more likely to burnout sooner and would not make it to five years in the position. Being a tech worker is so stressful that there must be time to devote their mind and body to the job to reach longer years in the job and avoid burnout (DePasquale, Polenick, Davis, Moen, Hammer, & Aleida, 2015).

Personal Experience and Thoughts

             I already feel stress from college workload that require coding. If this continues in the workforce as I age, I think that I would burnout unless I prevent it by building and maintaining a healthy mind and body. 

Work Cited:

Ahola, K. (2007). Occupational burnout and health. People and Work Research Reports 81.

https://www.tsr.fi/tsarchive/files/TietokantaTutkittu/2006/106382Loppuraportti.pdf.

Cook, S, PhD. (2015). Job Burnout of Information Technology Workers. International Journal

of Business, Humanities and Technology, 5(3).

DePasquale, N., Polenick, A. C., Davis, K. D., Moen, P., Hammer, L. B., Almeida, D. M. (2015).

The Psychosocial Implications of Managing Work and Family Caregiving Roles: Gender

Differences Among Information Techonology Workers. Journal of Family Issues, 1(25).