The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Positivity and Strengths-Based Approaches at Work, First Edition. Edited by Lindsay G. Oades, Michael F. Steger, Antonelle Delle Fave, and Jonathan Passmore. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Well‐Being of Information Technology Professionals Kamlesh Singh and Mohita Junnarkar 25 Introduction Globally about a billion people work in IT, however the sector still faces a shortfall of employees (Young, Marriott, & Huntley, 2008). India has established itself as the premier and de facto location for offshoring activities (National Association of Software and Service Companies and McKinsey & Company, 2005) and its booming information technology (IT) industries have contributed to the rapid growth of the country’s economy since 1990. In 2006, India captured two thirds of the market share in IT development, mainte- nance, and support. The remaining market was shared by other countries such as Canada, Ireland, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brazil (Tholons Inc., 2006). Global changes and new managerial challenges have motivated organizational researchers to focus on employees’ health (physical and mental) and well‐being for further investigation. Employees in many parts of the sector, particularly in the developing economies, face long working hours (up to 14 hours a day; Santhi & Sundar, 2012), which leads to physical health issues such as sleeping disorders, voice loss, ear problems, digestive dis- orders, sight problems (Kamp, 1992), and psychological distress (Guna Seelan & Ismail, 2008). Employees strive hard to achieve success and organizational objectives, and this affects their physical health, and social and psychological well‐being. The dynamic nature of the industry affects employees’ well‐being through job insecurity and increase in stress levels (Fatimah, Noraisha, Nair, & Khairuddin, 2012). The empirical evidence indicates that IT employees face mental health and well‐being concerns, which are presented in five sections in this chapter. The first section discusses the theoretical construct of well‐being and different allied models such as quality of life, job/career satisfaction, and job/career commitment. Secondly, the chapter establishes the linkages between well‐being and different job‐related factors such as self‐efficacy, motiva- tion to work, quality of work life, and work–home balance. The third section deliberates the factors that affect, correlate, and predict the well‐being outcomes of IT employees, 0002767643.indd 491 6/20/2016 8:40:20 AM UNCORRECTED PROOFS