CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Psychological sensitivities in any jobs provide desirable context for job stress and injuries, so
the prevention of burnout is considered as one of the main contexts in IT industry. Burnout is
defined as a specific psychological condition in which, people experience emotional
exhaustion, a lack of personal accomplishment and tending to depersonalize others. Burnout
is a syndrome including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal
accomplishment that can happen among employees working with people. In the more general
form, burnout is defined as “a state of exhaustion in which person is pessimistic about job
value and his/ her abilities for doing it”.

According to Maslach’s model, burnout starts with emotional exhaustion which is a response
to long term job stress. As a consequence of this emotional exhaustion, people avoid others
and depersonalization occurs and if this situation continues, person feels failure in doing job
affairs. Therefore, according to Maslach’s model, emotional exhaustion happens prior to
depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment is followed by situation.

Human resources are considered as the most important asset and strategic factors of any
organization. In particular, in government agencies, policy makers exert their policies through
human resources. Satisfied and motivated workforce plays an important role in promoting
policies and adjusted programs. Recognizing the employees’ job satisfaction can help
managers to improve the productivity of human resources.

Job satisfaction refers to the desires or positive feelings that people have toward their jobs. In
fact, people have higher job satisfaction, are more loyal to their employer and like their job
more. Therefore, they can satisfy their needs and have positive feelings towards it. Job
satisfaction is also defined as the individual’s feelings of his/her own job and positive
attitudes toward it. In other word, job satisfaction is defined as the helpful and positive
emotional feelings in person after doing the task. However, job satisfaction is not a single
factor, but is an intermediate relation combining job duties, responsibilities, actions and
reactions, motivations, encouragements and hopes.

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Job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional feeling resulting from one’s evaluation
towards his job and his job experience through comparing between what he expects from his
job and what he actually gains from it. Also job satisfaction is considered as a result of the
interaction of the employee and his perceptions towards his job and work environment. In
general, successful organizations have more satisfied employees, while low job satisfaction
may seriously affect the organization.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Over the last decade, in order to achieve the corporate position companies are working
harder. As a result of professionals experience a high rate of job burnout along with a low
rate of job satisfaction. It can also have implications on such working conditions as job
satisfaction, burnout, absenteeism, and turnover. This study aims to find out whether a
relation exists between job burnout and job satisfaction.

1.3 NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Due to the inevitability of the existence of factors causing burnout and their impacts on the
job satisfaction, and also to gain a better understanding of the relations among mentioned
variables, a comprehensive investigation of this issue is needed mainly to improve and
promote the industry. This study would help us understand the relationship between job
burnout and job satisfaction of employees working in the IT industry.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this research was to determine the degree of job burnout and the level of job
satisfaction experienced by employees of IT industry.

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1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To study the relationship between job burnout and job satisfaction.

 To analyse the relationship between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.
 To analyse the relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.
 To analyse the relationship between personal accomplishment and job satisfaction.

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The study was conducted among IT industry employees only.

 The study doesn’t focus on any particular organisation.
 Job satisfaction is a multidimensional variable and difficult to measure all, so only 3
variables (pay, autonomy, organisational policies) are considered in the study.

1.7 ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT

The entire study of Job burnout and Job satisfaction in IT industry is divided into eight
chapters and is given as follows:

 The first chapter deals with the introduction of study of Job burnout and Job
satisfaction in IT industry. Further the chapter briefs about the objectives, need and
significance, problem statement and limitations of the study.
 The second chapter describes about the various concepts or studies conducted in this
topic in the form of review of literature.
 The third chapter states the theoretical framework on which the background of study
is carried out further in this report.
 The fourth chapter describes the research methodology adopted in the study. This
includes the objective description followed by research design, sources of data
collection, and the sample size design from the selected population, the method
adopted for collecting the data, questionnaire preparation and data analysis
techniques.

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 The fifth chapter deals with Data analysis.
 The sixth chapter contains the findings.
 The seventh chapter contains some recommendation.
 The eight chapter contain the conclusion

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 CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

Blanch and Aluja (2012), Even though the role of social support on job burnout has been
studied by experts, several aspects still need further investigation. First, existing studies in
this area tended to combine three dimensions of burnout, namely emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and perceived lack of personal accomplishment, into a single measure.
This combination was then used as a single outcome variable.

First, emotional exhaustion is defined as “a chronic state of physical and

emotionaldepletionthatresultsfromexcessivejobdemandsandcontinuoushassles” (Wright and
Cropanzano, 1998, p. 486). It normally manifests in forms of fatigue and lack of energy to
perform work functions. Employees who experience this problem tend to feel emotionally
overwhelmed and worn out especially when they face workloads that require significant
amounts of time and energy to perform (Hur et al., 2014).

Second, depersonalization refers to “an impersonal and dehumanized perception of recipients,

characterized by a callous, negative, and detached attitude” (Salanova et al., 2005, p. 808). It
tends to happen when employees adopt dysfunctional coping strategies to deal with stress at
work and when employees perceive a lack of control over key aspects of their job (Maslach
and Jackson, 1981). As a result, those who encounter depersonalization tend to distance
themselves from their work as well as from other people at work. In particular, Garden
(1987) argued that this aspect of burnout reflects several distinct attitudes, including
distancing, hostility, rejection, and unconcern.

Third, perceived lack of personal accomplishment refers to “a decline in one’s feeling of

competence and successful achievement in one’s work” (Janssen et al., 1999, p. 75). It
usually occurs when employees lack confidence to perform their work effectively. This
problem normally develops when employees feel that the efforts they put into work are not
producing expected results or are not being recognized.

Freudenberger (1974) labelled the emotional depletion and loss of motivation as burnout.
Since that time, burnout has been actively studied as a form of occupational stress among

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workers in human services. In 1986, Maslach’s Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey
was developed by Christina Maslach and Susan Jackson to help health service managers
evaluate the burnout level of their staff.

Kalleberg (1977) proposed that job satisfaction has two components. Intrinsic job satisfaction
indicates people’s feelings about the nature of the job tasks themselves whereas extrinsic job
satisfaction refers to people’s feelings about aspects of work situations that are external to the
job tasks or work itself (Voon et al, 2012; Shim et al., 2002). Thus, Job satisfaction is defined
as a person’s evaluation of his/her job and work context (Carriere et al., 2008). Lack of job
satisfaction results in staff’s morality reduction and this issue has negative effect on
organization productivity. Therefore, agencies managers have to investigate the symptoms of
low morality and job dissatisfaction continuously and take actions in this regard (Foroughi et
al., 2008).

Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure three distinct concepts of burnout:
emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Maslach defined
burnout as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal
accomplishment” (Maslach, 1982, p.4). Burnout occurs when people lack a sense of control
over the care they provide (Maslach, 1982). When health care professionals experience
burnout they no longer have any positive feelings, sympathy, or respect for their patients
(Maslach, 1982).

Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996, According to Maslach burnout differs from occupational
stress in that it is specific to work that requires intense involvement. Occupational stress is an
imbalance between occupational demands and available coping resources. The concept of
burnout integrates feelings of exhaustion with staff member’s involvement in work,
especially with their coworkers, and their sense of efficacy or accomplishment. Burnout is
one consequence of nursing stress that is associated with low morale, reduced job
performance, low productivity, absenteeism, and job turnover (Maslach, 1982). Tardiness,
accidents, sick leave, turnover, training new employees to replace those who left, overtime,
and compensation benefits are numerous other factors that serve to raise the dollar cost of
burnout (Maslach & Jackson, 1977).

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Maslach (1982) defines six sources of burnout within an organization. These sources include:
work overload, insufficient rewards, unfairness, break downs in the working community,
value conflict, and lack of control. A burned out individual is unable to successfully deal with
the chronic emotional stress of a job, and their failure to cope can lead to impaired
performance and low morale (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996).

The most used research definition among all ones of job satisfaction is presented by Locke
(1969). According to him, job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional feeling
resulting from one’s evaluation towards his job and his job experience through comparing
between what he expects from his job and what he actually gains from it (Saari & Judge,
2004; Locke, 1969). Also job satisfaction is considered as a result of the interaction of the
employee and his perceptions towards his job and work environment (Rehman et al., 2010;
Locke, 1976). In general, successful organizations have more satisfied employees, while low
job satisfaction may seriously affect the organization (Galup et al., 2008).

Job satisfaction can be defined as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the
appraisal of one’s job or job experiences” (Locke, 1976, p. 1304). Job satisfaction is
considered an important factor that can benefit an organization in many ways. For example,
studies found that satisfied employees tended to have more productivity and high
performance (Ilies et al., 2009; Yunxia and Jianmin, 2010). Importantly, retaining satisfied
employees can help an organization reduce costs associated with recruiting and training new
employees (Grissom et al., 2012). Since burnout has been found to create various negative
conditions that reduce employee motivation to perform their work (Bakker et al., 2006), it
can be a factor that significantly reduces employee job satisfaction. For example, a study by
Nagar (2012) found a negative relationship between each of the three aspects of burnout on
job satisfaction among university teachers. However, the impact of each aspect of burnout is
inconclusive. The study by Shepherd et al. (2011), which surveyed salespersons across the
USA, also found the negative effects of emotional exhaustion and perceived lack of personal
accomplishment on job satisfaction; yet, they did not find a significant effect of
depersonalization. Thus, further evidence regarding the effects of burnout is still needed. In
the present study, we expect all three aspects of burnout to associate negatively with job
satisfaction.

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 CHAPTER 3
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The goal of this study is to analyse the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction
among employees in IT industry. In general, theoretical principles indicate that there is a
negative relationship between burnout and job satisfaction.

EMOTIONAL
EXHAUSTION PAY

DEPERSONALIZA JOB JOB

TION BURNOUT SATISFACTION AUTONOMY

PERSONAL ORGANISATIONAL
ACCOMPLISHMENT POLICIES

Figure 3.1 Theoretical framework model

According to the model of research, the relationship of burnout and its components
(independent variables) will be studied with job satisfaction (dependent variable).
According to Maslach’s theory, burnout components consist of emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. The components of job satisfaction
taken are pay, autonomy, organisational policies.

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 CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology for the study done for this project is based on Primary data
collected through a survey conducted among 100 employees working in IT industry in
Kerala. Secondary data was collected from various international journals, articles.

4.1 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of job burnout and job satisfaction
experienced by IT Industry employees.

4.2 HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis 1: To find out whether there is any relation between job burnout and job
satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relation between job burnout and job satisfaction.

HI: There is significant relation between job burnout and job satisfaction.

Hypothesis 2: To find out the relationship between emotional exhaustion and job
satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.

H1: There is significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.

Hypothesis 3: To find out the relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.

H1: There is significant relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.

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Hypothesis 4: To find out the relationship between personal accomplishment and job
satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relationship between personal accomplishment and job

satisfaction.

H1: There is significant relationship between personal accomplishment and job satisfaction.

4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is an arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of data in a

manner that aims to combine relevance to the research with economy in procedure.
Fundamental to the success of any research project is the sound research design. The research
design used in this study is Descriptive Inferential Research Design.

Descriptive statistics involve tabulating and describing while inferential statistics predicts
characteristics of a population based on information gained from sample drawn from the
population.

The study employs correlational research design where the relationship between job burnout
and job satisfaction is tested.

4.4 SOURCES OF DATA

Employees working in the IT industry is formed the population of this study. Among them
only N=112 employees belonging to IT companies in Kerala are formed the sampling frame
of the study.

Primary data is collected from IT industry employees with the help of questionnaire.

Secondary data is collected from websites, books, journals etc.

4.5 POPULATION

The population of the study included all current IT employees from Trivandrum.

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4.6 SAMPLE DESIGN

The primary data were collected from employees in IT sector Trivandrum.

 Population : Employees of IT companies in Trivandrum

 Expected samples: 112

4.7 SAMPLE METHOD

Quantitative data collection methods are used to gather primary data. Questionnaires are
distributed to employees through emails, whatsapp as Google forms and asked them to
complete the same. The data obtained from survey is sorted and analysed using regression
method to find the relationship between job burnout and job satisfaction. The factors –
emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalization are analysed using
Pearson’s correlation to find out their relationships with job satisfaction.

4.8 METHOD OF COLLECTING DATA

The data was collected through circulating questionnaires via Google form. There was 5
questions for getting demographics data and 17 questions, which consist of questions from
various factors of job performance and job burnout. The questionnaire was circulated to
employees from IT sector in Trivandrum.

4.9 QUESTIONNAIRE DRAFTING

A questionnaire was designed and floated amongst the employees working in the IT
Company to get their insights on job burnout and job satisfaction. The questionnaires were
designed to measure the dependent and independent variables to find the relationship between
job burnout and job satisfaction and made use of structured items which required respondents
to choose from items presented among options using a five point Likert scale ranging from
strongly disagree to strongly agree. Structured items do not require a lot of time on the part of
the respondents to formulate their response.

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4.10 DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

Data analyses depend on both the objectives of the study and the nature of the variables in the
data collected. The obtained data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage were used to analyse the collected
data. Inferential statistics such as correlation analysis test was used to compare the mean
differences. Analyses were performed using statistical formulas provided in XLSTAT.

The technique used for analysis is:

 Regression analysis

Regression analysis is a set of statistical process for estimating the relationship between a
dependent variable and one or more independent variables.

 Correlation analysis

Correlation is a bivariate analysis that measures the strength of association between two
variables and the direction of the relationship. In terms of the strength of relationship, the
value of the correlation coefficient varies between +1 and -1. A value of ± 1 indicates a
perfect degree of association between the two variables. As the correlation coefficient value
goes towards 0, the relationship between the two variables will be weaker. The direction of
the relationship is indicated by the sign of the coefficient; a + sign indicates a positive
relationship and a – sign indicates a negative relationship.

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 CHAPTER 5
DATA ANALYSIS

5.1 LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Hypothesis 1: To find out whether there is any relation between job burnout and job
satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relation between job burnout and job satisfaction.

HI: There is significant relation between job burnout and job satisfaction.

Analysis of variance (Job satisfaction):

Source DF Sum of Mean F Pr > F

squares squares
Model 1 4.901 4.901 18.681 < 0.0001
Error 110 28.861 0.262
Corrected 111 33.762
Total
Computed against model Y=Mean(Y)

Table 5.1: Linear regression analysis

JOB SATISFACTION = 1.76698790365095+0.258996957138956*Burnout

Interpretation

From the Table 5.1, the value of regression analysis is 0.0001 which is lesser than 0.05.
Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected.
There is significant relationship between job burnout and job satisfaction.

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5.2 CORRELATION ANALYSIS 1

Hypothesis 2: To find out the relationship between emotional exhaustion and job
satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.

H1: There is significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.

Correlation matrix (Pearson):

Variables Job satisfaction Burnout -

Emotional
exhaustion

Job satisfaction 1 0.258

Burnout - Emotional 0.258 1

exhaustion

Values in bold are different from 0 with a significance level alpha=0.05

Table 5.2: Correlation analysis 1

Interpretation: In this correlation analysis performed in Table 5.2, the value obtained is
0.258 which lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 in the degree of correlation. So the correlation is
low positive correlation.

Therefore there is significant relationship between usefulness of social media on employee’s

job satisfaction.

Therefore there is significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.

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5.3 CORRELATION ANALYSIS 2

Hypothesis 3: To find out the relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.

H1: There is significant relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.

Correlation matrix (Pearson):

Variables Job Burnout -

satisfaction Depersonalisation

Job satisfaction 1 0.438

Burnout - 0.438 1
Depersonalisation

Values in bold are different from 0 with a significance level alpha=0.05

Table 5.3: Correlation analysis 2

Interpretation : In this correlation analysis shown on Table 5.3, it is evident that the value
obtained is 0.438 which lies in the range of 0.4 to 0.6 in the degree of correlation. So the
correlation is moderate positive correlation.

Therefore there is significant relationship between depersonalization and job satisfaction.

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5.4 CORRELATION ANALYSIS 3

Hypothesis 4: To find out the relationship between personal accomplishment and job
satisfaction.

H0: There is no significant relationship between personal accomplishment and job

satisfaction.

H1: There is significant relationship between personal accomplishment and job satisfaction.

Correlation matrix (Pearson):

Variables Job Burnout - Personal

satisfaction accomplishment

Job satisfaction 1 0.287

Burnout - 0.287 1
Personal
accomplishment

Values in bold are different from 0 with a significance level

alpha=0.05

Table 5.4: Correlation analysis 3

Interpretation: In the correlation analysis performed as per Table 5.4, the value obtained is
0.287 which lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 in the degree of correlation. So the correlation is
low positive correlation.

Therefore; there is significant relation between personal accomplishment and job satisfaction.

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 CHAPTER 6
FINDINGS

6.1 HYPOTHESIS 1

The hypothesis 1 indicates that there is a significant relationship between job burnout and job
satisfaction. Therefore, in order to evaluate this hypothesis, correlation test was performed.

It is seen from the regression analysis that the value of regression analysis is less than 0.001.
As the level of significance for rejecting the null hypothesis was taken to be value <0.05,
therefore we can conclude that above hypothesis is supported. It means that there is a
relationship between job burnout and job satisfaction. In fact, the increase in burnout of
employees leads to reduction in their job satisfaction and vice versa. In following, the
regression model is calculated between burnout and job satisfaction.

6.2 HYPOTHESIS 2

This hypothesis indicates that there is a significant relationship between emotional exhaustion
and job satisfaction in IT employees. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, we used
Spearman’s correlation tests.

It is seen that correlation coefficient as 0.258. As the level of significance for rejecting the
null hypothesis was taken to be correlation value <0.05, therefore we can conclude that the
hypothesis is supported. It means that there is a relationship between emotional exhaustion
and job satisfaction. In fact, the increase in emotional exhaustion of employees leads to
reduction in their job satisfaction and vice versa.

6.3 HYPOTHESIS 3

This hypothesis indicates that there is a significant relationship between depersonalisation

and job satisfaction in IT employees. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, we used
Spearman’s correlation tests.

17
It is seen that correlation coefficient as 0.438. As the level of significance for rejecting the
null hypothesis was taken to be correlation value <0.05, therefore we can conclude that the
hypothesis is supported. It means that there is a relationship between depersonalisation and
job satisfaction. In fact, the increase in depersonalisation of employees leads to reduction in
their job satisfaction and vice versa.

6.4 HYPOTHESIS 4

This hypothesis indicates that there is a significant relationship between personal

accomplishment and job satisfaction in IT employees. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, we
used Spearman’s correlation tests.

It is seen that correlation coefficient as 0.287. As the level of significance for rejecting the
null hypothesis was taken to be correlation value <0.05, therefore we can conclude that the
hypothesis is supported. It means that there is a relationship between personal
accomplishment and job satisfaction. In fact, the increase in personal accomplishment of
employees leads to reduction in their job satisfaction and vice versa.

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 CHAPTER 7

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the results obtained in the survey and the validation of the hypotheses which
indicates there is relationship between the job burnout and job satisfaction among IT
employees, the following suggestions are offered:

It is recommended to administrators of the organization to reduce burnout via creating

attractive work using new technology, job rotation in routine and repetitive works, attention
to employees' opinions about work improvement and modification, work delegation to
persons based on their favourites, making attractive work environment according to human
issues in workplace, attention to employees' emotional problems and trying to eliminate
them, attention to welfare issues of employees and their families, providing sport facilities,
library etc., eliminating conflicts and establishing a friendly environment.

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 CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSION
As mentioned earlier, this study aimed at investigating the relationship between job burnout
and job satisfaction.

Maslach’s Burnout Inventory is used to assess people’s personal experience of work.

Maslach’s Burnout Inventory assesses 3 components of burnout: emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion refers to feelings of
being emotionally overextended and depleted in one’s resources. Depersonalization refers to
negative, callous, or excessive detachment in the response of others, who are usually the care
recipients. Lastly, personal accomplishment refers to one’s feelings of competence and
successful achievement in one’s. Maslach defines burnout as having high degrees of
emotional exhaustion and depersonalization with low degrees of personal accomplishment.

In order to evaluate the hypothesis, the Spearman’s correlation and regression tests were
employed. Since, for all hypotheses the value obtained is less than the error level, the null
hypothesis was rejected. It means that there is a significant relation between burnout and its
components with job satisfaction.

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 CHAPTER 9
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