Always Connected: Technology Use Increases Stress among Public Managers

Abstract

Despite the growing use and adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in government, few studies investigate how ICTs impact the well-being of public managers in the workplace. Information system and psychology studies define “techno-stress” as a form of stress stemming from the social and technical changes brought by ICTs use. Public managers likely experience techno-stress as ICTs become pervasive in their professional and private life and add new demands to their workload. Using nationwide 2014-survey data of 2,500 local government managers, we focus on technology use and individual and organizational practices around ICT use to investigate their effect on techno-stress. We find that ICT use for professional purposes increases techno-stress but public organizations can reduce techno-stress by providing policies and guidelines on ICT use. Personal use of ICTs and electronic monitoring do not affect techno-stress. We discuss implications for technology and human resource management in public organizations.