Prevalence of burnout syndrome among Work-From-Home IT professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Many countries adopted a complete or partial lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and various professions started to work-from-home. People who work-from-home experience constant stress which leads to burnout syndrome. Burnout can be defined as a chronic stress-induced occupational syndrome resulting in fatigue, decreased job productivity, and poor motivation towards the job. OBJECTIVE: This research work primarily focuses on exploring the prevalence of burnout syndrome among IT professionals who work-from-home and to determine the impact of burnout in different gender and age-groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Using snowball sampling method 934 IT professionals were selected based on selection criteria, explained about the study processes, and instructed to submit an online survey consist of Maslach Burnout Inventory scale (MBI) through mail, social media, or through a researcher by direct interview. RESULTS: Descriptive statistics were used to interpret the data. In 25-30 years age-group, men were affected (93%) less than women (94%) and also in 31-35 years age-group, men were affected (96%) less than women (98%). Overall burnout scores of men were 94% and women were 96%. Results indicate female IT professionals were more prone experience burnout syndrome than Male population. CONCLUSIONS: From the results, it is concluded that 95% of the IT professionals are suffering from burnout, where women are more prevalent to burnout when compared to male. It is also suggested that an early, routine and frequent assessment of physical status, mental status and burnout syndrome is essential to maintain mental health.