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Is IT Work Getting More Stressful, Or Is It the Millennials?
dcblogs writes: A survey of IT professionals that has been conducted in each of the last four years is showing an increase in IT work stress levels. It's a small survey, just over 200 IT workers, and it doesn't account for the age of the respondents. But some are asking whether Millennials, those ages 18 to 34, are pushing up stress levels either as IT workers or end users. The reason Millennials may be less able to handle stress is that they interact with others in person far less than other generations do, since most of their social interactions have been through Internet-based, arms-length contact, said Billie Blair, who holds a doctorate in organizational psychology. This generation has also been protected from many real-life situations by their parents, "so the workplace tends to be more stressful for them than for others," she said. Others are wondering if Millennials are more demanding of IT workers. Millennials are also expert users, and "are no longer in awe of technology specialists and therefore demand higher service levels," said Mitch Ellis, managing director of executive search firm Sanford Rose Associates in St. Louis.
The survey, which started in 2012, just released its 2015 report, and found that of 78% of the IT workers surveyed consider their job stressful. That's up just 1% from 2014, but in 2013 the figure was 57% and in 2012, 67%.
Their numbers are jumping all over the place. I also don't see how they can jump to any conclusions regarding Millennials in the workplace after only four years with such a small sample, and they don't break it out by age group.
Someone needed to fill a column with some words - so here are some words. Come back next week for more words in this column
Pretty much this. When I started work, using email was seen as a kind of rising trend, why use email when you can call someone? Why use a website to get a datasheet when you can call the vendor and have him fax it? I used to get strange looks about my methods, I'm putting too much on myself they said, or don't want to leave my office, etc.
Now the "new trrend" (about as new as email and WWW was in the 90s) is IM, webex, wiki's. The older crowd understands these things but generally thinks they're a pain in the ass, but the younger crowd not only sees them as office furniture but doesn't think twice about setting up a webex on the spot and summoning the mages, without a day of advanced warning and a calendar invite.
I'm not sure we think they're lazy, but certainly hasty, a little inconsiderate and not used to solving problems on their own or at least thinking them through before calling in for reinforcements. It tends to be very raw. But that's just how it will be 15 years hence.
And for the record, we who have been in the industry long enough to remember a time without all these resources - we who are decidedly not "Digital Natives" - we're the ones who created FaceBox, YouScreen and WhoBook et. al. And we still have a much older word for "Digital Natives" - we still call 'em "n00bz".
They seem to feel "owed" by society a job, and to be treated nicely and fairly.
These are reasonable expectations of a functioning society. That these expectations are considered to be ridiculously entitled is a reflection on society rather than the people who hold them.
It is a "reasonable expectation of a functioning society" to expect that jobs exist for you to do and make money to survive.
It is NOT reasonable to expect that society will simply provide you with the specific job you want, a job you find engaging or interesting, or a job that's fun or enjoyable. Despite huge advances in machines and technology, there still are plenty of jobs that require hard work, often physical labor, or tedious activities. Someone has to do them. Society may "owe" you a job -- but it doesn't owe you a job that will enable you to play video games all day long, or a job as an actor or a musician or whatever.
Yet there seems to be some truth, at least in the U.S., to the idea that many immigrants (including those are not legal) do jobs that are too dirty, too laborious, or too unpleasant to find Americans who are willing to work relatively cheaply.
Why is that? How many people end up staying at their parents for a couple years now in their 20s while "job hunting," rather than taking a hard job as a janitor, or a dishwasher or line cook in a restaurant, or mowing lawns, or doing hard manual labor? In previous generations, there would be no question -- most kids were done with any schooling they had by 4th-6th grade, and then they'd be working on the farm or apprenticing to someone or off to the mines or the factories. They needed money to survive. I'm NOT saying we should go back to that, but the reality is our expectations about THE KIND OF JOBS many younger people are willing to do have changed significantly. Society doesn't owe them a job they like.
This is not a new trend, but if we look at the statistics for the number of people in their 20s (and even 30s) who are still dependent on their parents, we see there's a trend here... and it's not just due to lack of jobs. It's due to lack of jobs that younger people are actually willing to do. (To be fair, we've also created unreasonable expectations here. We tell kids they need to finish high school, or they need to go to college. And then when they get out, they could easily end up working a blue-collar job that my grandfathers worked at with their 4th or 5th grade educations. There's a disconnect here on multiple levels.)
I didn't always get congratulated JUST for trying
Noticing children's effort rather than results is better for producing successful adults, as it instils perseverance rather than a sense that your skills are innate and immutable.
To a point. You need both. Also, studies have shown that the results are NOT as good if praise is disproportionate to achievement and effort. One should not be congratulated "JUST for trying," but only for trying HARD. When you get a trophy for "just showing up," it dilutes the actual praise for those who really win trophies, as well as for those who didn't quite win but really made their best effort.
I absolutely agree that STRONG effort should be praised and is good reinforcement for kids. So is recognizing actual achievement and succeeding in goals, though. Both are helpful. But praising someone for any minimal effort ("just for trying") is not generally helpful. The expectation should be that we all "try" in life. When you try VERY HARD and/or actually SUCCEED, then a reward is more appropriate.