Subj : Budget cuts are negatively affecting mental health in IT, and her
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Wed Dec 20 2023 12:30:05

Budget cuts are negatively affecting mental health in IT, and here are the 
most worrying statistics

Date:
Wed, 20 Dec 2023 12:25:28 +0000

Description:
IT professionals are suffering from the stress of the job, and these are the 
reasons why

FULL STORY
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Independent research into the mental health of IT professionals has found 
that budget cuts are negatively impacting wellbeing in the cyber security 
sector. 

The research, commissioned by Integrity360, surveyed 205 IT security 
professionals on their attitudes towards their organizations IT budget, their 
main concerns within the job, and the availability of mental health support 
and services. 

Almost 60% stated that their mental health had declined as a result of budget 
cuts, with over half (55%) also staing that the current economic climate was 
restricting access to mental health services within their organizations. 
Challenges facing IT decision makers 

Of the main challenges facing those in IT, 48% said that protecting sensitive 
data caused the most stress followed by managing risk and compliance (28%), 
defending identities (26%) and ransomware ranked at 25%. 

Of the different professions within the industry, CIOs were found to have the 
highest impact on their mental wellbeing (30%) when working on security 
consolidation, with CTOs and security analysts having significantly lower 
concerns at 18% and 14% respectively. 

The shortage of qualified professionals within the cybersecurity industry has 
forced many IT departments to do more with less, increasing the workloads on 
already struggling workers. 63% of those surveyed noted that working within 
cybersecurity contributed to increased levels of stress and anxiety. 

Fortunately, close to 70% said that adequate support was provided by their 
organization however 75% would like more to be done to provide wider access 
to mental health services. 

Speaking on the results of the survey, Brian Martin, Head of Product 
Development, Innovation and Strategy at Integrity360 said, "Cyber security 
budgets have always been challenging and this year has certainly tested many 
businesses. 

A myriad of issues from budget, economic downturn and skills shortage have 
all impacted the workload placed on those tasked with tackling cyber threats 
and compliance and its no surprise this is having a detrimental effect on 
mental wellbeing. 

Businesses need to find solutions to support their employees and ensure that 
the systems they are working so hard to secure are up to the task. Enlisting 
third party help or outsourcing to an MSSP could be a good place to start. 
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/budget-cuts-are-negatively-affecting-mental-heal
th-in-it-and-here-are-the-most-worrying-statistics


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