Office Environment and Work Experience as Predictors of Professional Burnout among IT Specialists

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the parameters of professional experience and subjectively perceived characteristics of the office environment influence on the development of IT specialists’ burnout. The sample included 192 IT specialists aged from 19 to 47 years (Mage=29.76±5.15 years; 21.4% women) with work experience in the current company of 2.07±3.17 years. The level of professional burnout and its components (Exhaustion, Mental distance, Cognitive impairment, Emotional impairment and Secondary symptoms) were assessed using Burnout Assessment Tool adapted by N.I. Kolachev et al. (2019). Subjectively perceived qualities of the office environment were measured using a standardized questionnaire "People in the office" (M.V. Pavlova et al., 2023). It has been shown that the burnout components of representatives of the IT sphere are not sequential processes, but arise in a certain sequence. The duration of daily communication with colleagues and work experience in the organization have a direct positive effect (reduce) cognitive impairment and secondary symptoms, and age has an indirect effect in reducing emotional impairment and mental distance. The perception of the working environment as having a developed external infrastructure, stimulating internal communications and reflecting professional identity reduces the severity of emotional dysregulation, mental distance and secondary symptoms in IT specialists. And the convenience of the workplace reduces the severity of exhaustion and cognitive symptoms of burnout. The presence of subordinates moderates the designated connections more strongly than the work format. The study results can be used as recommendations when designing a salutogenic office environment that prevents the development of professional burnout among IT specialists.