25 percent IT workers feel abused
By Techgirl

Do you prefer mature American and European managers to Indian bosses who are often on ego and power trips? Do you feel your Manager at Satyam (make that ex-boss) was so busy sucking up to ex-Chairman Mr. Raju that he did not care if his team members lived or died? Do you feel that your Team Leader at TCS is an insecure megalomaniac who loved cutting juniors to shreds?

Do you feel that your Project Manager at Infosys loved the word ‘I’ so much that he used it at least 30 times a day?

Have your seen your senior at Polaris playfully pummel anyone weaker than them and then dismiss it as friendly horseplay between ‘friends’?

Were you angry and irritated at seeing you Project Architect at WIPRO whack anyone who did not ‘see the big picture’ and her ‘vision’ of the best hardware and software systems?

Apparently, your British counterparts in UK have the same problems.

British firm Connect has just released research which shows that 25% of IT workers at small to medium sized enterprises in the UK have suffered from verbal or physical abuse in the workplace – and used the Christmas holidays to put a stressful 2008 behind them. The Connect research also found that 36% of IT workers have suffered from sleepless nights or headaches as a result of IT problems at work, with 7% neglecting family and friends.

The survey was conducted by an independent research company on behalf of Connect and consisted of in-depth interviews with IT Managers and Directors at 151 UK companies.

 Other significant results from the research include:

- Over half (59%) of IT workers surveyed spend between 1 and 10 hours working on their company’s IT systems outside normal working hours
- Despite the recession, a quarter of IT workers (23%) surveyed want to leave the IT industry and do something completely different;
-  The single biggest IT headache is menial day to day hassles and problems according to 45% of those surveyed.
- The research reveals one of the causes of stress – the fact that 10% of the companies surveyed by Connect had lost critical data through backup tape failures – precisely why the company now recommends online backup alternatives

While this ‘research’ conveniently suits Connect UK, which provides an ‘innovative backup’ service, there are grains of truth in it.

Techgoss note:  Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog http://techgirltalk.blogspot.com