Business leaders admit teams are bogged down by legacy systems and poor project management
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The pressure to roll out new products and systems is making for a fraught working environment for IT and technical teams, according to a new survey carried out by Censuswide on behalf of IT consultancy Saros Consulting.
The poll of 200 IT decision-makers in large Irish organisations found that three in five (60%) were seeing stress or mental health issues among IT workers due to intensifying delivery pressures.
The research suggests that as organisations continue to embrace AI, the pressure to roll out new products and systems is making for a fraught working environment for IT and technical teams. Just 58% of IT leaders say their leadership team has realistic expectations of how AI can benefit them.
The research found that IT workers’ jobs were being made more difficult by the running of legacy systems that slow down progress. Some 59% of IT leaders admitted they were running too many legacy systems, while 57% said legacy systems were holding back innovation in their company. On top of this, six in 10 (61%) reported seeing scope creep as a significant cause of stress for IT and technical teams. The same proportion (61%) admitted that IT and technical teams were working long hours because of talent shortages.
The research highlights that financially, there is an upside for IT workers amid the talent shortages. It reveals that 59% have given an IT or technical team member a pay increase of 50% or higher to discourage them from leaving. This underlines the lengths large organisations are willing to go to retain skilled IT talent in an increasingly competitive market.
To ease the burden, organisations are also outsourcing IT work. Almost a quarter (24%) of respondents said they had outsourced project management can help to reduce stress among technical team members.
Ray Armstrong, co-founder and co-CEO of Saros Consulting, said: “Our research shows that organisations in Ireland are struggling to address the issue of mental health among IT teams – and the leadership team themselves could even be compounding the issue.
“The source of the issue lies in organisations not having a proper IT strategy in place. This means not only coming up with a strategy that is doable, but also one that works in tandem with the business and its goals. Putting a proper plan in place can help to alleviate pressure, provide clarity and lead to happier, more fulfilled workers.”
Justin van der Spuy, co-founder and co-CEO of Saros Consulting, said: “The sharp rise in cyber threats, coupled with the AI boom and severe staff shortages, have meant that IT teams are under a lot of pressure – to a point where it is becoming too much.
“IT has become the backbone of every organisation: if it ceases to function healthily, then so does the rest of the organisation. IT leaders must look holistically at how they can support their teams. Pay rises alone can’t cure sleep deprivation.”
TechCentral Reporters