Technology Issues Drain Weeks of Productivity Each Year

Employees could be losing more than two work weeks each year trying to get their computer equipment to work.

According to a survey of office workers by Robert Half Technology, professionals waste an average of 19 minutes each day dealing with IT-related issues. For someone who works five eight-hour days for 50 weeks of the year, that translates into a loss of nearly 80 hours per year.

Despite the time spent tackling tech glitches, nearly half (44 per cent) of employees rate their organization’s IT infrastructure good or excellent.

Workers were asked, “How many minutes per day, on average, would you say you lose due to technology issues?” The mean response was 19 minutes.

“For technology to improve business productivity, rather than hinder it, companies must ensure that their teams are provided the proper resources to help make the best use of the tools available to them,” said Deborah Bottineau, senior regional manager of Robert Half Technology.

No wonder, then, that when it comes to workplace dissatisfaction, 40% of North American workers cite malfunctioning technology as their number one office complaint.

“What is surprising is the number of respondents who attribute their stress to workplace technology,” said Melissa Moore of  Toshiba. “Technology should make your life easier.”

Office technology can have a mind of its own and significantly derail productivity: 52% believe that dealing with malfunctioning office technology takes away from other work responsibilities; 25% have missed a deadline due to a technology failure; and 57% believe that their boss would accept a technology failure as a legitimate excuse for a missed deadline.