| IT consultant tops most
stressful profession list
15 May, 2006
By Mark Cox
Feel stressed in your IT job? Well, take comfort in the fact
you are not alone. A new survey of more than 3,000 people
-- conducted by SWNS on behalf of online learning provider,
SkillSoft, indicates which professions are the most stressful
and what things lead people to feeling stressed stress at
work. And IT experts are more likely to suffer from stress
than any other professional, according to the survey.
A staggering 97 per cent of people working in IT claim to
find their life at work stressful on a daily basis.
Four out of five IT consultants feel stressed before they
even enter the workplace, in anticipation of another day juggling
complaints, pressure from managers and daily targets.
And a quarter of IT experts are under such enormous pressure
to perform at work they have taken time off suffering with
stress.
The poll also revealed that a third of IT professionals say
it is difficult to get the work done when managers are constantly
on their backs.
One IT respondent said: "I spend most of my day fielding
calls from people who don't even have a basic knowledge of
computers and printers. "It is amazing the amount of
time I spend teaching people where the on-off button is. And
when I do actually find a technical problem to solve, I have
my manager breathing down my neck wondering why I have a backlog
of complaints."
Kevin Young, managing director of SkillSoft said that "our
research was sparked by a recent Gartner report which claims
that the untrained or under- trained desktop user will cost
an organization five times more to support than a well-trained
worker. This led us to thinking about how much pressure this
must also put on the IT professionals who have to provide
such support."
People working in medical professions have the second most
stressful job -- with 96.8 per cent saying caring for others
is rewarding but traumatic on the same hand.
Engineers, sales and marketing professionals and teachers
also have demanding roles, according to the poll.
The poll reveals that 37 per cent of folk find it difficult
to meet deadlines, whilst 31 per cent stress about taking
on other people's work. A disgruntled 28 per cent say they
lack job satisfaction, and would prefer to work elsewhere.
A third of people would rather be their own boss, and have
complete control over their daily duties. And employees claim
to feel put- upon and suffer most at the hands of their managers
-- who are blamed for lack of support, increasing pressure,
interruptions and bullying behavior.
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