Burnt Out?

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

Does anyone happen to know any statistics (etc) that relate the average amount of time it takes for someone in tech support to get burnt out?

Oh yeah, there's a story behind this.  Just trying to get some facts straight before hitting boss-man in the face with it all.

x-posted

Comments

[deusmetallum.livejournal.com]

That question is impossible to answer. It all depends on the mental strength of the tech and how stupid the users are. It could range from 10 minutes to 50 years!

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

sure, one could go so far as to say: one person has a longer patience level than another, who is easily irritated.

really, i'm just looking for an approximate average time before a good techie has to push away and say "enough. i need a break or i'm gonna go postal" and then take a month off, or quit.

[pne.livejournal.com]

ISTR reading a figure of 18 months for "call center", though of course that covers a multitude of sins, not just tech support.

[ethereal-dusk.livejournal.com]

"enough. i need a break or i'm gonna go postal"

LOL, that hits home. I actually work for the [USPS] postal help desk, and after 1 year I am ready to kill these peeps dead over the phone. I mean seriously climb through the phone and choke their shit deader than shit.... so burnout time for people like me at the Postal Help Desk-- 1 year. Other have lasted longer, many have lasted shorter.

[luminousx.livejournal.com]

HDI did a survey that indicated turn over of help desk agents is usually 18 months. Whether that is due to 'burn out' or other factors is unknown.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

50 years? Which manager have you been listening to?

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Factors:
Number of users supported.
Quality of Management support.
Amount of free-reign and self expression allowed.
Amount/frequency of "downtime" given.
Quaility of hardware/software supported. ("It all sucks, some just suck less!")
Quality of users suppported.

[turningallblue.livejournal.com]

I've seen way too many techs who have stayed in the field long past their burn-out date. Having said that, it seems (with my informal estimation) that the time span is usually 18-24 months.
I myself hit the wall after about 4 months, but that's because of the company I was working in.

[tecie.livejournal.com]

The average I always saw was around 1 year to 18 months.
Of course, there are many variables involved.
But usually around the one year mark, most techs I've met just stop giving a crap.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Lies, damned lies...

[pne.livejournal.com]

"Never trust a statistic you didn't forge yourself"

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

And seniority. Although that could be somewhat related to "free rein".

I lasted for 6 weeks on a helpdesk, 18 months as desktop support, and I've been a Windows/Exchange/Postfix admin for over 6 years now.

[ptomblin-lj.livejournal.com]

I like to start out burnt-out and hating the lusers. It saves time in the long run.

[necessitysslave.livejournal.com]

Well one of our callcentres was running at 200% attrition for heldesk work. ie they employed ~200 people but had to recruit 400 new staff a year.

This works out to average length of stay to being .5 a year

[abstrak-tokatl.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on how much you are getting paid.

back when i was working for at&t's sublet, people where getting paid 10, the turn over rate was about 6 months.

When i was working for ISP channel, people where making 20 to start, and bonuses after 3 months. People rarely quit and internal promotions came first before searching else where for those job positions.

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

okay, I'm about to blow the 18-24 month curve here. I've been doing tech support for over 20 years.

I spent 5 years doing pharmacy help desk.
I spent 4 years supporting one gov't agency including holding down the entire desk for 3 hours by myself for 3 hours a night.
I've been handling tier 2 level support for my current gov't agency for 3+ years now - including a recently concluded stint of handling 2 centers at once for 6 months straight.

I wonder if the fact that I'm bipolar helps with the "survival" rate?

[xforge.livejournal.com]

Depends on whether you get to do deskside support and how many of the hot chicks on the floor seem to think you're the God of Computer Repair. Or maybe that's just me.

[fenrirvallin.livejournal.com]

Well, keyword is average. A lot of people are gonna wash out after 3 months. But a year and a half does sound about average. Not sure how you'd prove it though. Most call center jobs have such an insane turnover rate with new hires that the numbers almost stop meaning anything.

I know where I work about half the callfloor is oldskool. And the other half I don't even bother learning their names.

Also, being bipolar, I think it helps. We're probably a little more used to dealing with stupid stress issues.

Speaking of, apparently my sleeping meds didn't work tonight, and I'm gonna need caffine to survive this shift...

[kizayaen.livejournal.com]

I lasted just about one year even before taking a programming job in a much smaller company.

[jecook]

For straight helpdesk, the average burn out rate I noticed was usually around 9 months or so.

Vacations *do* increase the amount of time that it takes for someone to get burned out though, especially if the person taking the vacation actually does *nothing work related* during that vacation.

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

i'm going on 3+ years

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

Number of users supported: more than I know
Quality of Management support: better than most
Amount of free-reign and self expression allowed: uhm, yeah. on somethings a lot, on others not so much
Amount/frequency of "downtime" given: downtime HA! we've been habitually understaffed since the day i started 3+ years ago
Quality of hardware/software supported: ("It all sucks, some just suck less!"): It's a fantastic product, even if we haven't had an upgrade in 2+ years
Quality of users supported: hahhahaa!! users = lusers. in my case, i'm dealing w/ doctors and their staff.

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

maybe it's time then; time for a sabbaticals or something.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Let's call that "Type of support given"

I'll also add
"Amount of team support"
"On-call status, and frequency it's exercised"

[catmmo.livejournal.com]

I was on a help desk for about a month before I felt burnt out, then went to a different job where I was hands-on ... I was burnt out there by the end of my first 1.5 years ... but I didn't quit until yesterday (YAY!!!) at 7 years. I probably wouldn't have quit tho' if it hadn't been for the extreme micro management, and the hostile work environment that my supervisor caused.