New report highlights the stress of being a tech executive

Everyone knows that being a tech executive comes with a certain level of stress, but the ostensible payoffs seem to be worth it. Well, a new report (via Business Insider) highlights how bad it can actually get. It seems that most tech executives’ jobs are causing them extreme mental distress and bodily harm because of unhealthy coping mechanisms.

The stress of being a tech executive comes from different places

This report comes from All Points North, a Colorado-based addiction treatment center. The establishment surveyed 501 executives from several tech firms with more than 1,000 employees between April 27th and May 15th this year. The findings are pretty bad.

Fear and stress

A big part of the stress these leaders are feeling is from the fear of losing their jobs. Since last year, major tech companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and many more have been on a lay-off spree, shedding tons of employees. Of those surveyed, about 38% have experienced fear due to the more recent layoffs. 77% of them say that these recent layoffs have negatively impacted their mental health.

The fear isn’t only coming from the layoffs; executives are also feeling stress about something else that happened last year, the rise of generative Artificial Intelligence. Tools like ChatGPT threaten to put thousands- if not millions- of upper-level workers out of their jobs. 31% of the executives worry that AI will replace them in their position. 74% say that this fear has negatively affected their mental health.

Unhealthy coping mechanisms

While working in an office can cause some bodily harm, sometimes what we do to cope with the stress can make things worse. The report found that many of these workers are using different controlled substances to cope with the stress.

A staggering 78.8% of the people report that they’re taking some sort of controlled substance to deal with the stress. They’re either taking medication prescribed by their doctor or otherwise. 48% of the people say that they use some substance nearly every day to deal with the stress, and 36% say that their work environment has contributed to their substance use.

37% and 31% say that their substance usage has increased due to the recent layoffs and the rise of AI, respectively. These substances include drugs like Codeine, Oxytocin, Vicodin, and other codeine and morphine derivatives. They also include alcohol and smoking. You can see the full report here.

This report is a real eye-opener, and it shows how the current environment in the tech industry is having an impact on the workers. With layoffs due to the falling economy and rising AI, it’s proving to be too much for those under the fear of being laid off.

It’s sad to see, and only time will tell if it will get worse.