According to Cross, IT workers have high divorce rates and personality types that can be cauldrons for stress. They tend to avoid people but have a need for recognition and praise, a "very seriously flawed combination," he said. IT workers often work long hours and deal with systems that can cause frustration.

"Stress is a big deal with us," said Cross, who warned IT workers that they face health problems if they don't address it.

Many in the audience nodded their heads as Cross listed some of the problems IT workers face. But he also detailed steps they can take to reduce stress, such as practicing breathing exercises, setting priorities, avoiding negative people and office gossip, and ensuring that they strike the right balance between job and life. "Your job is not you," he said.

Cross says he also practices what he preaches to his own staff, and often reiterates "the importance of getting away from the job." For those workers who are "job addictive" and put in too many hours at the office, Cross said he will tell them to take time off.

It's an approach, he said, that works. "We have an awful lot of people who have been there for a while because they want to be, and that retention kind of speaks for itself," Cross said.