Techies excel at personal problem-sharing at work

Maybe it’s Loan Charge 2019, the uncertainty over Brexit or their competitive skills market.

Whatever the motivation, people who work in IT are all but the biggest chatters to their colleagues rather than their loved ones about nagging concerns and personal problems.

Only sales staff are more likely to vent to co-workers about ‘stress’ -- the top grumble, making techies the second most talkative out of nine sectors of workers, shows a study.

‘Sleep,’ ‘anxiety’ and ‘weight’ are the second, third and fourth most common complaints, respectively, to share with colleagues instead of loved ones, found Bupa Health Clinics.

But not everything is up for discussion. Sexual health is one of the areas most likely to be kept private, as is alcohol consumption -- only the 10th most likely issue that workers broach.

Of those who keep schtum at work and prefer to share concerns at home, one in five blamed open-plan offices, and one in 10 said hot-desking did not encourage opening up.

Workers in Engineering and Financial Services emerged as the seventh and ninth most likely to talk about their concerns at work, whereas those in Arts & Culture were the least likely.