Why your dream job may be bad for your health

Landing a job with one of the big tech companies is a dream come true for many people, but life in the fast lane doesn’t suit everyone.

Deirdre O’Donovan, a consultant gastroenterologist at Dublin’s Blackrock Clinic, sees the results of workplace stress in her consulting room every day. She has noticed an increase in the number of young people presenting with stomach problems which she attributes at least in part to pressures at work.

“Of course, there are many things that cause stress in people’s lives, but what I’m seeing are more younger people – early to mid-20s – with symptoms that, when we dig deeper, appear to be related to working in fast-paced, deadline driven environments,” she says.

“For many of these young people, working in tech is their big ambition, and they don’t want to do anything else. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are coping well with the environment. We need to look at what can be done, by employers in terms of psychological support, for example, to help people work more comfortably within their natural capacity.”

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Dr O’Donovan’s assessment of what’s going on under the surface is shared by Ciara Spillane of Positive Prospects, a tech industry veteran turned career and wellness coach. She spent a chunk of her career with Google in talent acquisition and hiring strategy roles, and has also worked for Microsoft.

“Jobs with tech companies can be very, very appealing,” says Spillane, who comes from an IT background. “They pay extremely well; they have great benefits and you get to work on exciting projects.

“But heavy workloads are also very common, and people are not always in the right role for them. If you begin to feel mentally stressed or start showing physical symptoms of stress or anxiety, you need to ask yourself: is it me or is it the job?”

What about my mental health – is that okay? What about my workload? Is it simply more than I can comfortably handle?

Spillane accepts that seeing the woods for the trees when work is all-consuming is difficult, so she recommends deliberately putting some thinking time aside, at the weekend for example.

“Writing things down is a good way to clarify your thoughts,” she says. “Some of the questions you might ask yourself are: did I feel fulfilled or happy in this role at some stage? If I did, when did things start to change? What was the catalyst?

“When I started to feel unwell or stressed, what was happening? Is the issue with my manager, or with the company’s culture? Is it toxic? What about my mental health – is that okay? What about my workload? Is it simply more than I can comfortably handle?”

Having identified the problem, Spillane says the next step is to see if it can be fixed without the upheaval of changing job.

“Perhaps a discussion with one’s team leader or HR could help, and it may be possible to tweak a role so that it suits better,” she says. “While it depends on what you’re doing within a tech company, there is normally an element of autonomy. So, is there something you can change to relieve some of the pressure and make the role work better for you?”

I’m seeing young people who eat most of their meals in the office every day. The food they’re being offered, often with a heavy emphasis on high fibre, is actually making their symptoms worse

Stress-related gut problems affect employees of all ages. However, Dr O’Donovan says there is a difference between younger and older workers presenting with similar symptoms. “The young employees often don’t make the connection between the stress of their working lives and their health problems. Older workers do because they recognise that they feel their stress or anxiety through their stomach,” she says.

She adds that no one should lose sight of the fact that people are still coping with health-related fall-out from the stress of social isolation and anxiety experienced during Covid.

Long hours often go with the territory in the tech sector, and it’s not unusual for employees to eat three meals a day at work. This may be a handy way to fuel the body and good for workflow, but Dr O’Donovan says the type of food being provided may in fact be exacerbating, rather than solving, health problems for some employees.

“If companies are providing food for employees, then there needs to be a broad choice. I’m seeing young people who eat most of their meals in the office every day and the food they’re being offered, often with a heavy emphasis on high fibre, is actually making their symptoms worse,” she says.

“I end up putting most of my younger patients through a dietician, and we often use probiotics to help them, or in some cases a very, very low dose of anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medication, because it works quite well to desensitise the bowel. Someone may still have the same stresses, but they’re slightly more resilient in terms of how they respond to them.”

For those who think a job move is still the answer, Spillane makes the point that jumping ship without addressing the elephant in the room will solve nothing.

“If someone hasn’t thought properly about the reasons they’re unhappy or anxious or stressed, then it’s unlikely their next role will be any different,” she says.

“If they have thought about it and still want a change, then they should write down a description of what their ideal next job will look like in areas such as workload and culture. Also think about what type of leadership style they work best with, and make sure it’s present in the company they’re thinking of moving to.”