Stress Related Issues Due to Too Much Technology: Effects on Working Professionals

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine stress related issues on working professionals within a retail organization and Information Communication Technology (ICT). This type of stress is known as “technostress.” Employees within four job levels; entry, middle, management and upper management were surveyed to learn what types of Information Communication Technologies they use in the workplace and what kinds of stress they experience because of these technologies (Brod, 1984; Ayyagari, Grover, and Purvis, 2011). Previous studies have shown that information communication technologies may be related to stress, but the specific kinds of stress related issues have not been fully researched. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between technology and stress and to find out what the stress related issues are, to what extent does “technostress” affect our personal lives and overall to gain a better understanding of the consequences of too much technology use. Findings suggest “Techno-insecurity” (individuals who feel insecure in their level of understanding of information communication technologies) is not supported… the opposite of this condition was found, 73% agreed or strongly agreed they have adequate skills to understand the technology they are using. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents almost always feel anxiety when they do not have their cell phone on their person, and 58% always check their cell phone the instant they get an alert for an incoming text or email. It was also found that “blurring boundaries” exist between the work-home environments. Overall, results corroborate that the phenomenon known as “technostress” exists