IT workers "love their jobs" - but a third want out

 

Gallery

By Hani Megerisi

Posted on 5 Mar 2010 at 14:42

A new Microsoft survey has found that 81% of IT workers are happy with their jobs, and almost half are looking to progress in the field.

However it's not all upbeat for IT staff: more than half of respondents said they had no ambition to progress up the career ladder, and a third don’t see themselves working in IT in ten years' time.

“One thing we have to hang on to is 81% are happy,” said Mark Taylor, senior director of development and platform evangelism at Microsoft. “Half of that sector have ambitions around progression – it’s incredibly positive.”

Technology and software are at the heart of so many industries now, and there’s a greater degree of confidence and innovation driving all sectors

“If you look at the people who have ambitions [to be directors or entrepreneurs], nearly 50% is a positive expression. The other 50% who don’t want to progress are probably happy where they are,” Taylor added.

The survey also found that 81% of IT employees felt their work was making an impact on the world. “Technology and software are at the heart of so many industries now, and there’s a greater degree of confidence and innovation driving all sectors,” Taylor said.

"Technology has made it possible to access harder to reach places [in oil exploration, for example].. and to develop better hybrid cars”.

Workplace stress

The study, conduced by Loudhouse Research, uncovered some more worrying trends, with 51% of employees noticing an increase in their work-related anxiety. Job satisfaction in general has declined over the past year, according to Claire McCarthy of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

“In April we conducted a similar survey [across all sectors] which found that job satisfaction was quite high, and we interpreted this as people just being happy to have a job [during the recession].”

She added that there had been a continual slip in job satisfaction since then, citing the economic climate as a major cause. The fact that only 23% of IT workers cited their boss as a positive role model was also a cause for concern.

“Organisations need to do more to build… trust in senior leaders” as well as foster “greater communication between different levels of the business”. She added that “giving employees some sense of career progression and job security” was important in combatting stress.