High levels of potential staff turnover are on the horizon, according to TEKsystems’ second annual IT stress and pride survey.

“While the majority of IT professionals are proud they chose a career in IT, the survey results point to the potential of a trend towards dissatisfaction or disengagement that organizations need to monitor,” said Jason Hayman, market research manager for TEKsystems. “The shift so far is slight, but if it continues and organizations do not prepare for and adjust their talent management and workforce strategies accordingly, they could face even greater turnover, possibly causing even more stress and increased workloads for those employees that stick around.”

Thirty-one percent of IT professionals said the work they are currently doing is the most stressful of their career, with 32 percent of senior-level IT professionals and 30 percent of entry- to mid-level IT professionals reporting all-time high career levels of stress. Additionally, 81 percent of entry- to mid-level IT workers and 65 percent of senior IT professionals said that stress causes them to initiate a job search.

Keeping up with organizational requests and workloads displaced keeping up with technology as the biggest stressor IT professionals face on a daily basis. The top stressors included:

1. Keeping up with organizational requests/workload: 31 percent, up from 23 percent in in a similar survey in 2013
2. Keeping up with technology: 28 percent, down from 31 percent in 2013
3. Impact on work/life balance: 23 percent, down from 28 percent in 2013
4. Coordinating, interacting with co-workers/supervisors: 18 percent, no change from 2013

The survey also found organizations also tend to abuse senior IT professionals’ downtime. Sixty-one percent of senior IT professionals report they are expected to be accessible 24/7, up from 57 percent in 2013. However, 27 percent of entry- to mid-level IT professionals reported they are expected to be accessible at all times, down from 37 percent in 2013.

Overall, the percentage of IT professionals who would not choose to pursue a career in IT has risen from 19 percent in 2013 to 23 percent in 2014.

The survey included 224 entry- to mid-level and senior IT professionals in North America across a wide variety of industries, and was conducted from April 16 to April 28, 2014. TEKsystems, part of the Allegis Group, is the largest IT staffing firm in the United States.