Development of a Comprehensive Program to Work with the First Stage of Professional Burnout of it Specialists

Professional burnout of IT professionals, especially in the initial stages, is a serious business problem that is often overlooked in existing intervention programs. The research conducted within the framework of the master's thesis eliminates this “gap”, considering the first stage of professional burnout and its connection with the organizational environment. The above-mentioned phenomenon is defined as a state of exhaustion associated with work, which is characterized by a lack of motivation and energy to perform necessary tasks, with an average level of symptoms (Schaufeli, 2020). During interviews with managers and HR specialists (N = 6) and a survey of IT specialists (N = 222), it was found that the first stage of professional burnout is widespread among IT specialists and is associated with a negative perception of work, high workload, poor relationships with colleagues, insufficient personnel support and inactive internal communications. At the same time, current measures lack depth and diversity of practices, which requires an integrated approach focused on both employees and the organizational context. Based on these results, a modular program was developed that includes activities at several levels. Feedback from stakeholders (N = 10) highlighted the relevance and uniqueness of the program, which led to its further improvement. Future research is aimed at implementing the program in various organizations and improving measurement tools to more accurately assess its quality and effectiveness. However, limitations include small sample sizes and cultural context, which requires further research using larger and more diverse samples. This study contributes to understanding the early stage of professional burnout among IT professionals and offers a practical solution to this problem (development of a program for the prevention of professional burnout), thereby promoting research in the field of business psychology and organizational well-being.