A Personal Growth Approach to Preventing IT Burnout

by Eugene Kaluzniacky

With rapid organizational and technological change, unrealistic user expectations during system development, and often declining budgets, today's IT worker is required to be creative yet precise and within strict time limits. Factors such as rapid change, unrealistic expectations of users, and skill obsolescence are being reported as causing significant, ongoing stress among IT professionals. Moreover, IT burnout is becoming a noteworthy reality. In an Internet poll of 250 IT workers, 48% responded as being "close to burnout," answering at least 5 on a 7-point scale.