‘I Quit’ … How Slow, Outdated IT Encourages Employee Exoduses

A higher number of professionals who work with inferior technology said they’re willing to leave their employers, as opposed to those with access to top-shelf IT capabilities, according to a recent survey from Unisys. The resulting report, titled “The New Digital Workplace Divide,” focuses on findings that compare employees who work for technology “leaders” (companies ahead of the curve on technology compared with the competition) with those with “laggard” businesses (those that are behind). Among other problems, laggards are far more likely to provide slow, outdated, siloed IT without the mobility that workers seek. More than 12,000 global employees took part in the research. The following slide show presents survey highlights, with charts provided courtesy of Unisys.

The report indicates that 45 percent of survey respondents employed by tech “laggards” said they have to depend upon outdated devices, compared with just 16 percent of those working for tech “leaders” who said the same. Similarly, 27 percent of those with tech laggards said their employer’s IT slows them down, but only 16 percent of those with tech leaders said they deal with this issue.

Nearly one-quarter of those with tech laggards said their company’s solutions do not enable them to “work on the move.” In comparison, just 14 percent of those with tech leaders said this was the case at their organization.

Integration brings up additional concerns, as 23 percent of those with tech laggards said their company’s systems don’t connect well with each other. Yet, just 8 percent of those with tech leaders said the same about their employer’s systems.

One-half of respondents working for tech leaders said the tech they use at work makes them feel positive about their job. In contrast, only 15 percent of those working for laggards said they feel this way.

The findings reveal that the tech they use at work causes 44 percent of respondents working for laggards to feel frustrated with their employer. But just 7 percent of those with tech leaders also share this sentiment.

Reflecting upon the issue’s impact upon attrition, 14 percent of respondents with laggards said their company’s struggles with tech make them want to work somewhere else. However, only 2 percent of those with tech leaders want to change employers for this reason.

Not all sentiments at top-performing companies are positive: Nearly one-half of respondents at tech leaders, in fact, said their organization relies too much on technology at the expense of human interaction and engagement. But just 36 percent of those at tech laggards agree with this assessment.

Artificial intelligence is considered the technology with the most potential to improve the working environment over the next five years, as cited by 36 percent of respondents overall. The internet of things followed, as cited by 33 percent.

When asked why they use their own personal devices at work, 36 percent of survey respondents overall said they want to have control over their own device. About three out of 10 said they prefer to use a device or operating system that they’re used to, and 24 percent said their employer’s devices aren’t as up-to-date as their own.

To “get around” security processes, 30 percent of respondents overall admit that they’ve emailed files to themselves. In addition, 27 percent said they’ve written down passwords and 24 percent said they’ve saved passwords on browsers.