Each November, National Stress Awareness Day is recognized on the first Wednesday of the month and aims to identify and reduce the stress factors in your life.
Everyone has stress, and some level of stress is good for us. It helps us to respond to changes in life, serving as our body’s way of protecting itself from sudden harm. However, too much stress can negatively impact our health, relationships and even our productivity at work.
Unfortunately, stress in the technology industry is particularly prevalent, and with it comes many negative consequences. When employees are burnt out and lagging in their performance, lapses in security and missed deadlines are commonplace, while new and innovative ideas fall by the wayside and are rarely brought to the table.
As global cybercrime continues to grow, the demand is outpacing the supply of security professionals who can help combat the ever-increasing threats. Shortage in security means organizations are operating understaffed, and team members don’t have the time to train for advanced skills like security analytics. Experienced team members then have to pick up the slack, adding to job fatigue and stress.
Many security professionals desire to have a real impact on the world, which makes them become emotionally invested in their jobs, contributing even more to stress. As a result, burnout is a real phenomenon in security and software development.
The first step to combating burnout is to identify that it is happening. Second, be sure to create a culture of individual well-being and self-care. Provide resilience training resources and workshops that will give team members the necessary tools to better handle everyday stressors. And finally, build a team that collaborates well together.
With burnout on the rise, cybersecurity professionals, teams and organizations must prioritize their mental health and take steps to ensure they are well-equipped to handle the daily risk of cyberattacks. Professionals must be alert and vigilant, so implementing helpful technologies, turning to education/certifications and self-care techniques can better enable the entire profession to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.