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71% of STRESSED IT PROFESSIONALS IGNORING THEIR HEALTH AND FAMILY TO MEET WORK DEMANDS
Research of the Irish Internet Association (IIA) Reveal State of IT Professional Stress:
Dublin 2nd December 2015: 71% of Irish full time IT Professionals are sacrificing their health and personal lives to meet work demands. 87% of Irish IT professionals are losing out on personal time due work calls and emails. In fact 59% never take their full holiday entitlement with 47% reporting that work pressures are contributing to family conflict.
The research conducted by the Irish Internet Association (IIA) examined how workplace demands and stress impacted across their health, family life and work. It found that over half (54%) felt they did not have enough time to accomplish their tasks.
The research was conducted by the IIA in October 2015 and surveyed 200 IT professionals from a range of SMEs and large organisations.
Health of the IT Nation
When asked about their employers, 61% were uncertain if their employer cared about their mental health, with 41.5% unsure if their employer cared about their physical well-being. Over a quarter of those interviewed reported never exercising due to work pressure, while 32% reported that the demands of work was impacting on their diet.
Family Strife
Nearly half of IT professionals interviewed reported family tension and arguments caused by word demands encroaching on their personal time. 87% of those interviewed highlighted that they have had personal time regularly interrupted by work calls or emails. When it comes to downtime in the evening or weekends, 63% of them took work home in the evenings and weekends. In fact, 59% of those interviewed never took their full holidays due to work demands, causing stress in their family life.
Workplace Woes
Nearly three quarters (69%) report working up 60 hours a week. Over half (54%) of those surveyed feel they do not have enough time to accomplish all their tasks. More worryingly, 41% of this surveyed felt they have too much work to cope. In terms of their employer, 65% of those interviewed highlighted that their workplace did not any reactional facilities. Even for companies that have such facilities 42% of employees do not have enough time to make use of them.
“Without a doubt there are untold exciting career opportunities in the technology sector and the Irish Internet Association has been campaigning to address the digital skills shortage since 2012. More than anything, I believe this survey highlights that this skills shortage is having a serious knock-on effect for those currently employed in the sector. The number of respondents who feel they have more work than they can reasonably cope with is a worrying trend. From a business perspective, it simply makes sense that we do not exacerbate the current skills shortage by failing to acknowledge and address the implications of stress and burnout in terms of talent retention and development. Likewise we cannot in good conscience continue to entice people to work in our businesses if we do not invest in and care for them once they are there. I believe that most member organisations are committed to their employees but in light of these responses we must clearly do more. We live and work in a time where people are increasingly ‘on’ and we need to improve the demarcation lines between family time and work time if we are to retain great people and support their development”.
| Stress on Health |
| · 61% unsure if employer cares about their mental wellbeing |
| · 41.5% unsure if their employer care about their physical wellbeing
· 32% feel work has negatively impacted their diet |
| · 25% of IT professionals never exercise due to work pressure |
| Family Strife |
| · 86.6% of IT professionals have had personal time interrupted by calls or emails from work |
| · 63% take work home on evening and weekends |
| · 59% of IT workers never take their full holiday entitlement |
| · 47% percent have been in family conflict over work demands in personal time |
| Stressful Working Life |
| · 41% believe they have too much work to cope |
| · 54% believe they do not have enough time to accomplish tasks |
| · 69% of all it employees work 50- 60 hours per week |
| · 42% of employees don’t use recreational facilities that are provided due to lack of time |
ENDS
Contact
Cyril Moloney – PSG Plus.
Phone: 01 634 2509 or 086 0479462
Email: cyril.moloney@psgplus.ie
About the IIA
The Irish Internet Association (the IIA) is the independent representative body for internet businesses in Ireland. Established in 1997 it has been at the forefront of ensuring that Irish businesses and citizens have the skills, infrastructure and network of support needed to drive growth in the economy. Working with agile start-ups, scaling SMEs and indigenous and FDI corporates, the IIA have a unique insight into the ICT sector in Ireland.
The IIA is a non-profit business association. Members of the association include suppliers of Internet services and products as well as those using the medium for communication, marketing and commerce.
For more information contact Joan Mulvihill, +353 (0)1 542 4154 or members@iia.ie
– See more at: http://www.iia.ie/news/item/2185/71-of-stressed-it-professionals-ignoring-their-health-and-family-to-meet-work-demands/#sthash.YnGZy6ex.dpuf
