Stress is the perpetual enemy of workers across America. Recent research by the American Psychological Association shows that while the public’s overall stress level hasn’t changed much over the last year, people are more likely to report feeling the effects of stress (i.e. – anxiety, anger and fatigue) this year than they were last year. The most common sources of stress overall are work, money and the future of our nation, according to the research.
With April being National Stress Awareness Month, Comparably tapped its extensive culture database to find out how workers across the technology industry feel about stress, burnout, and work-life balance. The data comes from the anonymous responses hundreds of thousands of employees from small, midsize, and large public and private U.S. companies predominantly in the tech sector. Full methodology below.
Here are the key findings:
The No. 1 source of stress is ‘unclear goals’
Clarity is key. 41% of workers say having unclear goals is their top source of stress. The next-most popular responses were “commute” and “bad manager” (tied at 16%), followed by “difficult co-worker” (14%) and “too long hours% (13%).
An across-the-board problem. “Unclear goals” was the most popular response across every gender, department and age group.
Sampling of responses by age:
18 to 25
36 to 40
51 to 55
Men and women shared nearly identical views. Men and women were very similar in their responses, though women were slightly less likely to choose “unclear goals” than men were.
More than half of respondents say they feel burned out at work
Women vs. men. Fifty-seven percent of women and sixty percent of men say they feel burned out at work.
Minorities had the highest rates of reporting burnout. Hispanic/Latinos, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and African Americans reported the highest rates of feeling burned out (60%+). Caucasians had a slightly lower rate (58%).
Burnout rates peak pre-retirement. Rates of burnout were relatively consistent across age groups except approaching retirement (60% of people 51 to 55 say they feel burned out).
D.C. had the highest rate of burnout. Sixty-three percent of people in D.C. say they feel burned out at work, the highest rate of any city. San Francisco and Houston weren’t far behind (60%). By contrast, Ft. Lauderdale had the lowest rate of burnout (55%).
The departments with the highest/lowest levels of burnout: Workers in executive roles had the highest rates (70%), while workers in design had the lowest (54%).
The younger you are, the harder it is to have a true vacation
People expected to work while they’re away on vacation. Forty-three percent of workers 25 and younger say their boss expects them to work while they’re on vacation. That’s the highest rate of any age group; the lowest is workers in the 36 to 40 age group (37%).
From a department standpoint: Executives, business development and communication workers have the highest rates of saying their boss expects them to work while on vacation. Engineering and HR have the lowest.
No time to unplug. Overall, about 39% of men and women say their boss expects them to work while on vacation.
Women are slightly less satisfied with their work-life balance
Women vs. men. Overall, about 67% of women and 71% of men say they are satisfied with their work-life balance.
Satisfaction doesn’t change very much by age. While workers 18 to 25 report the lowest levels of satisfaction (67%), satisfaction doesn’t increase by very much with age. The highest rates are among workers 40 to 50 (71%).
The more experienced you are, the more satisfied you are. Workers with more than 6 years of experience had the highest rates of job satisfaction, though again, the range was tight (68% to 71%).
People in Seattle are most satisfied with their work-life balance. Three out of four respondents in Seattle said they are satisfied with their work-life balance. San Francisco and Boston also had high rates of satisfaction (73%). By contrast, respondents in Minneapolis had the lowest satisfaction with their work-life balance.
Methodology
Questions were in Yes/No and multiple-choice format. A total of four survey questions were included. Each survey was initiated sometime between July 2016 and January 2018. Results are as of April 10, 2018.
What’s your biggest stressor at work? Respondents: 29,504
Do you feel burnt out at work? Respondents: 24,540
Does your boss expect you to work when you’re on vacation? 11,418
Are you satisfied with your work/life balance? Respondents: 34,963
People of all ages, educational backgrounds, ethnicities and experience levels were included.
Employees hail from small, mid-size, and large tech companies (VC-funded, privately-held, and public) to household brands like Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, etc.
About Comparably
Comparably is one of the fastest growing compensation, culture, and career monitoring sites in the U.S. With the most comprehensive and uniquely structured data — segmented by gender, ethnicity, age, location, tenure, company size, equity, title/department, and education — the platform gives employees a more accurate picture of their worth and allows them to anonymously rate their workplace experiences and match with their dream jobs. Since its launch in 2016, Comparably has accumulated more than 3 million ratings from employees across 30,000 U.S. businesses and over 5,000 companies who use its employer branding and jobs tools. For more information on Comparably, go to www.comparably.com. For highly-cited workplace culture and compensation studies, including Comparably’s annual Best Places to Work and Best CEOs lists, log onto www.comparably.com/blog.
