Nearly one-third of IT pros find their job too stressful, MSP's survey says

High stress levels and poor sleep patterns a trend in the tech industry, according to a survey conducted by Core

Professionals in the UK IT industry are suffering from high stress levels and poor sleep patterns as a result of working long hours, according to a survey carried out by managed service provider Core.

The research - carried out at the end of February - surveyed 257 IT professionals and revealed that almost one-third of respondents find the job "too stressful" and 71 per cent have less than two hours of relaxation a day. Two-thirds of those surveyed indicated they sleep less than the recommended seven to eight hours on weeknights.

"We commissioned this report to find out just how bad sleep deprivation is for IT people," says Louise Mahrra, head of marketing at Microsoft Gold partner Core.

"With IT beating at the very heart of organisations, the results provide a much-needed wake-up call to business leaders. The harmful consequences portrayed in this report not only take a personal toll on individuals but threaten organisations' performance and talent retention."

Core called the sleep patterns "worrying" as more than 50 per cent of respondents wake up feeling tired, sleepy or groggy on a typical working day, with 29 per cent stating they were more likely to make mistakes because of tiredness and 17 per cent struggling to meet deadlines.

The data also indicated a "positive link" between the adoption of cloud technologies and a good work-life balance and that when IT workers are allowed to focus on more strategic issues there is a "definite upswing" in their outlook.

In order to help their employees' achieve a good work-life balance, Core suggested companies offer their employees flexible working hours and styles, moving as much as they can to the cloud and to consider moving to managed services "as a way of transforming satisfaction of overworked IT staff".

"Act now, and the benefits are plain to see: staff functioning at their very best - happier, more productive, higher performing and adding greater value," said Mahrra.

"Good IT people are hard to come by - businesses can't afford to risk losing them by overworking and piling on the stress until they've had enough. This is one wake-up call that should not be put on snooze."