In our survey, we asked respondents if they have plans to change their current role within the next year.
Interestingly, the majority (73%) stated they have no intentions of leaving.
But digging deeper, we found that within this group, a substantial 44% expressed openness to considering new opportunities, suggesting a dynamic workforce landscape.
2.1 Insights into Future Movements: Data Professionals' Career Intentions
Are planning to leave the data profession entirely
While most data professionals are content in their current roles for now, a quarter are contemplating a change within the next year. This includes some who plan to transition to similar roles elsewhere (4%), explore entirely different career paths (10%), seek internal opportunities within their current company (7%), or even exit the workforce entirely (3%). This signals a potential shift in the composition of the data professional workforce in the near future – which data leaders will need to be aware of.
Of those considering a departure, a noteworthy 10% are eyeing a complete career change, indicating evolving career interests or aspirations within the data field.
This highlights the need for organisations to remain adaptable and responsive to the changing needs and aspirations of their data talent. How can data leaders keep their data talent within the profession?
David Reed at Data IQ shares his observations:
“Curiosity is one of the defining characteristics of successful analysts and data practitioners. After a while in any post, they will become familiar - let's say over-familiar - with the challenges in their organisation, so will look for fresh pastures. A level of churn is healthy as it opens positions for new joiners, but too much loss of knowledge and skills is a clear risk. Let's also be realistic that anybody who joined the profession 10+ years ago was working in a very different data space to the one they inhabit now. Unless they are keeping their skills fresh, they may struggle to stay productive and satisfied.”
2.2 Navigating Burnout: Insights into Stress and Mental Health Among Data Professionals
Shockingly, the vast majority of respondents (7 out of 10) revealed that they or their data professionals have grappled with burnout, shedding light on a prevalent challenge within the data professional community. It's clear: burnout is a significant issue, touching the lives of many in this field.
Among those who acknowledged experiencing burnout, the survey unveiled varying degrees of impact. 2 in 5 noted that some of their team members have encountered burnout, while 1 in 3 admitted to experiencing it themselves. This shows that while burnout affects individuals personally, it's also a shared struggle within wider teams.
out of 10 data professionals have struggled with burnout in their roles
“Burnout in the data office is no surprise - few are staffed to their establishment level and all are operating in the red zone because of high demand. Combined with an underlying workaholic tendency among analysts and data professionals, this spells trouble ahead.”Interestingly, a smaller subset (10%) reported that many data professionals in their organisations have faced burnout, hinting at potential disparities in the severity or frequency of burnout experiences across different workplace cultures.
Delving deeper, respondents were asked to quantify the impact of stress and mental health issues on workdays. On average, data professionals took just 3.5 days off in the past year due to work-induced stress or mental health concerns.
Despite the prevalence of burnout, almost half of respondents (44%) said they took no time off for stress-related reasons in the last 12 months. This isn’t a good sign, suggesting that while many face stress to the point of burnout, a substantial portion either struggle through without requiring time off or feel reluctant to take breaks due to these issues.
Among those who did take time off, the majority (22%) opted for breaks lasting more than a day but up to a week, indicating a need for brief respites from work. However, a notable proportion (17%) required more extended breaks, spanning over a week up to a month, underscoring the profound impact of stress and mental health challenges on some individuals' ability to function effectively in the workplace.
This, combined with the fact that 1 in 5 of those data professionals leaving roles are are doing so due to the prevalence of burnout and stress, highlights the need for psychological safety to combat this issue.
This rings true with David Reed, Chief Information Officer at Data IQ’s, experience:
“Burnout in the data office is no surprise - few are staffed to their establishment level and all are operating in the red zone because of high demand. Combined with an underlying workaholic tendency among analysts and data professionals, this spells trouble ahead.”
So how can organisations deal with burnout in teams? For Sharon Clews, Director, People and Talent Management at techUK, culture is key:
“Do people feel they can speak up when they are feeling overwhelmed and trust that the organisation will do something about it? A supportive line manager who is tuned in to their team and can anticipate and proactively manage peaks in workload. Having supportive policies and benefits in place such as EAP, early intervention can also help”.
