The dark side of digital work: ‘Always on’ culture creating new type of anxiety for employees

‘Techno-overwhelm’ and ‘hyperconnectivity’ are worsening worker well-being, study shows.

NOTTINGHAM, England — Think about the last time you checked your work email after hours. Do you find yourself having the urge to scan your inbox frequently while on vacation? A new study from the University of Nottingham suggests these digital intrusions may be taking a significant toll on employee wellbeing.

The research, published in Frontiers in Organizational Psychology, explores what researchers call the “dark side” of digital workplaces: the hidden psychological and physical costs that come with being constantly connected to work through technology. While digital tools have enabled greater flexibility and collaboration, they’ve also created new challenges that organizations need to address.

The researchers identified a phenomenon they term “Digital Workplace Technology Intensity” (DWTI). This is the mental and emotional effort required to navigate constant connectivity, handle information overload, deal with technical difficulties, and cope with the fear of missing important updates or connections in the digital workplace.

“Digital workplaces benefit both organizations and employees, for example, by enabling collaborative and flexible work,” explains Elizabeth Marsh, ESRC PhD student from the School of Psychology who led the qualitative study, in a statement. “However, what we have found in our research is that there is a potential dark side to digital working, where employees can feel fatigue and strain due to being overburdened by the demands and intensity of the digital work environment. A sense of pressure to be constantly connected and keeping up with messages can make it hard to psychologically detach from work.”

Rise of ‘productivity anxiety’

To understand these challenges, the research team conducted in-depth interviews with 14 employees across various roles and industries. The participants, aged 27 to 60, included store managers, software engineers, and other professionals, providing insights into how digital workplace demands affect different types of work.

The researchers identified five key themes that characterize the challenges of digital work. The first is “hyperconnectivity.” They define this as a state of constant connection to work through digital devices that erodes the boundaries between professional and personal life. As one participant explained: “You kind of feel like you have to be there all the time. You have to be a little green light.”

This always-on culture has given rise to what the study reveals as “productivity anxiety,” or workers’ fear of being perceived as unproductive when working remotely. One participant described this pressure directly: “It’s that pressure to respond […] I’ve received an e-mail, I’ve gotta do this quickly because if not, someone might think ‘What is she doing from home?'”

FOMO leading to workplace overload

The study also identified “techno-overwhelm,” where workers struggle with the sheer volume of digital communications and platforms they must manage. Participants described feeling bombarded by emails and overwhelmed by the proliferation of messages, applications, and meetings in the digital workplace.

Technical difficulties, which the researchers termed “digital workplace hassles,” emerged as another significant source of stress. The study found these challenges were particularly significant for older workers and those with disabilities, highlighting important accessibility concerns that organizations need to address.

The research also revealed an interesting pattern around the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) in professional settings. While digital tools are meant to improve communication, many participants expressed anxiety about potentially missing important updates or opportunities for connection with colleagues.

“This research extends the Job Demands-Resources literature by clarifying digital workplace job demands including hyperconnectivity and overload,” says Dr. Alexa Spence, Professor of Psychology at Nottingham. “It also contributes a novel construct of digital workplace technology intensity which adds new insight on the causes of technostress in the digital workplace. In doing so, it highlights the potential health impacts, both mental and physical, of digital work.”

Disconnecting from the connected world

The study’s findings are particularly relevant in our post-pandemic era, where the boundaries between office and home have become increasingly blurred. As one participant noted: “[It’s] just more difficult to leave it behind when it’s all online and you can kind of jump on and do work at any time of the day or night.”

Based on these findings, the research team developed several practical recommendations for employers:

• Help employees develop stronger digital workplace skills
• Empower workers to establish and maintain boundaries between work and personal life
• Improve the usability and accessibility of digital workplace tools
• Address the proliferation of applications and platforms that can overwhelm workers
• Better understand employees’ individual needs and preferences for digital working

These recommendations aim to help organizations create healthier digital work environments while maintaining the benefits of technological advancement.

In an ironic twist that would be amusing if it weren’t so concerning, the very tools designed to make work easier and more efficient appear to be creating new forms of stress and strain for many employees. As organizations continue to embrace digital transformation, they would do well to remember that behind every “little green light” is a human being who occasionally needs to disconnect, recharge, and find peace in an increasingly connected world.