It’s Time To Talk About Tech Burnout (Again)

We’ve all heard of burnout by now, and if you’re working in tech, chances are you’ve already experienced it. Best represented by a four dimensional model (Marisa Salanova and Wilmar Schaufeli, 2005) burnout includes emotional or energetic exhaustion, professional self-inefficacy, cynicism and depersonalisation. These are the four “ghosts of burnout” that haunt workers on a daily basis.

According to the recently released Burnout Index (the largest scientific-based assessment of its kind, which surveyed 32,644 IT professionals across 33 countries) 42.1% of tech workers are at high risk of burnout, and many were most likely already experiencing it.

Why are tech workers faring so poorly? The pressures of working against the clock to feed the global tech frenzy is forcing employees to work overtime, while leaving little room for personal lives – not to mention that elusive work / life balance we hear so much about.

“The first step is to admit you have a problem,” says Steve Cadigan, future of work expert, global speaker and author of Workquake. “Many firms are still stuck in the bro culture of churn and burn and grinding it out is how you succeed, which is a shame. Companies have to set up guard rails to stop people from working on weekends, for example. I have seen some firms install a cue on their email such that if you send something out on Saturday before the email is sent you are asked by the system ‘Can this wait until Monday?’ We have to learn how to unplug and get people off the grid. It’s unhealthy and it’s not just tech companies – it’s everywhere. The human brain is incapable of processing what we are throwing at it and this is why depression and anxiety continue to rise at an alarming pace.”

Thankfully, some employers are waking up to the problem and addressing it. “Unilever, for example, has a whole team dedicated to eliminating distraction for their employees,” says Cadigan. “They are doing some great work here experimenting and learning that the more distracted people are the more anxious they are, and the less productive they are.”

For those employers who have yet to act, Cadigan suggests the introduction of company guard rails  – “No working on weekends period. No working after 5pm, experiment with four-day work weeks and see how it goes. The friction in this is fear that the firm won’t be as successful if people work less, but we are starting to see more examples where this is disproven.”

If you’re on the lookout for a new tech role that will be a little easier to handle, we have three to consider below. Alternatively, there are always thousands of open roles on the Tech Wire Asia Job Board to browse in your next five-minute lunch break.

Infosys is seeking a Test Analyst, who will act as a validation and quality assurance expert and review the functionality of existing systems of the global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. You will conduct requirement analysis, define test strategy and design and lead execution to guarantee superior outcomes. You will also be required to design an optimal test environment to simulate real-time scenarios.

eClerx is recruiting for a number of roles, including a Full Stack Engineer, working remotely. The successful applicant will be a skilled, team-oriented Full Stack Developer, with hands-on experience on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Web Accessibility. You’ll be responsible for ensuring the alignment of web design and user experience requirements, optimising web pages for maximum efficiency, and maintaining brand consistency across all web pages.

PayPal is hiring a senior Android Software Engineer to join its Automation Enablement team, which is responsible for mobile automation frameworks. They enable domain teams to create and execute functional automation, efficiently and accurately, by collaborating with the greater development community. This unique position is a rare opportunity to design automation frameworks that scale, working to support thousands of engineers.

If you’re interested in exploring more open opportunities, visit the Tech Wire Asia job board today and explore your next career step.

---

---

---