Watch Out for the 4 Types of Tech Industry Stress

If you are one of the 50 million or so people whose career is in the technology industry,

15:23 17 November 2019

keep an eye out for what experts say are the four most common forms of stress that plague brain workers who toil in front of their monitors day in and day out. By some measures, tech workers suffer higher levels of work-related stress and burnout than people who work on assembly lines, in meat-procession plants and in heavy construction. Why? It’s all about the effects of long-term concentration, according to experts. Consider the four most prevalent forms of occupational stress for anyone who is employed in the technology sector:

Physical

Workers who spend most of their time seated and looking at a lighted computer screen are at risk for dozens of physical problems down the road. Recent studies have documented the long-term damage to lungs, heart and posture that endless hours of sitting can cause. Couple that with the eye damage that typically follows years of screen-watching.

Mental Health

People who make their careers in this industry are tied with those in high-level sales jobs for the amount of mental health problems they endure. Especially in the industry’s centers, like San Francisco and San Jose, employees who spend more than five consecutive years in the industry turn up with mental health problems that need more than routine treatment. One study revealed that in California alone, there were more IT professionals in counseling than workers in any other occupational category. It’s quite common that long-term technology employees in San Francisco seek treatment in the Bay Area within their first year on the job. Folks in this market know about all the problems with burnout, stress-related stomach ailments, and other ills.

Economic

“Will I ever get a raise? Can I earn enough money to live? Will this company go bankrupt? What are the chances I’ll be fired,” and other pressing questions that fall into the money-related category are common ones that new hires in the tech industry ask themselves. Ironically, one of the field’s biggest strengths, fast growth, is also one of its major weaknesses, low job security. Because there’s so much jockeying for position, merger activity, bankruptcies and overnight success stories, the work environment for the average employee is anything but stable.

Burnout

Related to mental health in a way, burnout earns its own category because it’s so prevalent in the industry. Many workers amble along quite well for five or ten years with no outward signs of trouble. Slowly, they start displaying all the classic signs of job burnout, like constant fatigue, short tempers, the inability to sleep regularly, rapid weight gain or loss and many more.

Medical professionals say the key to beating burnout is to recognize they anyone can be a victim. The common misconception is that you need to have a super-high stress position to be susceptible. The truth is that virtually anyone can suffer symptoms if they don’t get enough rest, vacation days, counseling or peer support.