Work Poll: All Work, No Life

There’s no question that people in optical networking work hard. Whether they work for a startup or a large multinational company, people are putting their noses to the grind stone.

But the question is -- at what cost? In Light Reading’s December Work Poll, 47 percent of the 123 respondents said that they suffer from social problems as a result of working too much.

(Of course, the poll didn't address the question of whether the optical networking industry tends to attract the sort of people who've already got social problems...)

Another 41 percent said that their hard work has resulted in family problems, while 27 percent said it has resulted in medical problems.

Why are they working so hard? The majority (59 percent) of those taking the poll said that their companies or divisions are understaffed. Thirty-seven percent said that poor management was to blame for their over-work, and 23 percent said that peer pressure from co-workers caused them to work more than they would like.

These responses are hardly surprising considering the shortage of talented people in every facet of optical networking -- from experienced marketing staff to engineers.

Check out January's poll on keeping company secrets. How do you handle sensitive information from your job? Will your loose lips sink your company's ship? Take the poll yourself and compare your results with other optical networking professionals.

-- Marguerite Reardon, senior editor, Light Reading, http://www.lightreading.com