Burnout, stress prevalent among cybersecurity workers

Even though the rate of cyber incident responders experiencing extreme stress or burnout during the past year declined from 51% in 2021 to 47% in 2022, the rate of those who considered leaving their jobs due to stress and burnout rose from 65% to 69% during the same period, ZDNet reports. Elevated stress and burnout levels among cybersecurity workers come as the rate of those who encountered zero-day exploits increased from 51% to 62%, while two-thirds of respondents noted an increase in cyberattacks since the war between Russia and Ukraine, a study from VMware showed. However, the report also revealed that more organizations have been seeking to improve the work-life balance of cybersecurity personnel, with 72% of respondents citing flexible working hours as the most effective strategy in curbing stress and burnout. "Broadly speaking, companies are taking the right steps when it comes to easing burnout among cybersecurity professionals. But solving this issue isn't a simple, one-time fix. Now is the time to really double down on wellness efforts, such as flexible hours, more education, and coaching and therapy," said VMware Principal Cybersecurity Strategist Rick McElroy.