Nearly two thirds of IT managers are so stressed that they are thinking of packing it all and joining a new age commune where they can be calm.

GFI Software today announced the results of its new IT Admin Stress Survey, which found that 69% of IT administrators have considered switching careers due to job stress. Apparently dealing with managers, end users, and tight deadlines were cited as the biggest contributors to work-related stress. Survey results also revealed that IT professionals tend to work long unpaid overtime hours, with 34 per cent contributing the equivalent of 12 additional weeks per year in overtime.

The survey of 201 IT administrators in UK organisations with between 10 and 500 employees was conducted by Opinion Matters on behalf of GFI Software. The survey gauged respondents’ stress levels at work and revealed their opinions on their main stressors, as well as how their stress level compares to friends and family, and how it affects their personal and professional lives.

The survey said that two thirds of respondents consider themselves either just as stressed as or the most stressed compared to others in their social circle. More than half of IT admins at companies with between 10 and 49 employees say their jobs are stressful, that number skyrockets to 84 per cent when those at companies with between 50 and 99 employees are polled, representing the most stressed group in the respondent base.