Perceived stress and anxiety in I.T. professionals working from home

INTRODUCTION: WFH (work from home) is the today’s new normal. It has changed industry dynamics and given the ease and flexibility of being at office remotely, though it compromises on the traditional boundary between work-life balance. Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the pluses and minuses have been debated extensively and now with gradual attempts of return to normalcy, an important question arises for companies and their employees whether WFH is the ‘semi-vacation’ like boon it seemed to be or it is like that dreaded Monday which doesn’t seem to end ever after work hours. AIMS: To study the perceived stress and anxiety in I.T. professionals who are working from home METHODOLOGY: The study was initiated after taking approval from institutional ethics committee, Osmania Medical college. Written informed consent was obtained from participants and data was collected using google forms from various I.T. professionals who are working from home. Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale(HAM-A) were included in the google form. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. RESULTS: A quarter of the participants had PSQ Index greater than 0.5 suggesting higher perceived stress levels. As per HAM-A, about 60% participants had Mild Anxiety, less than 20% had moderate anxiety, 10% scoring in the range of moderate to severe anxiety and about 5% had severe anxiety.