Everyone experiences stress at work, but some jobs involve more overall stress than others. That's especially true for the tech industry, where high demand meets a lack of talent, which results in understaffed IT departments and a lack of support in up and coming areas like big data, security, mobile developers and more.
For some people, a stressful job is no issue, but for others it can be draining and even become a health issue. And science backs this up; numerous studies have suggested that stress at work can shorten your life span and cause negative health problems. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), "Along with its emotional toll, prolonged job-related stress can drastically affect your physical health. Constant preoccupation with job responsibilities often leads to erratic eating habits and not enough exercise, resulting in weight problems, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels."
The APA also cites a loss of mental energy in addition to the health problems that can stem from a negative working environment or a stressful job. It can also perpetuate a negative and cynical attitude, leading to problems with depression, which can ultimately reduce your overall immunity.
CareerCast released a list of the most stressful and least stressful jobs for 2016 across every industry. For technology, there were eight jobs on the list that were categorized as being the most stressful jobs in the industry. The study looked at 11 stress factors including the amount of travel, growth potential, deadlines, working in the public eye, competitiveness, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards encountered, own life at work, life of anther at risk and meeting the public. Respondents were asked to rate each category on a scale of 1 to 10 to find the "stress score" of each job.
[ Related story: Tech and IT workplace hiring trends for 2016 ]
