Stress levels rise in IT support

Two in five IT support managers feel their job has become more stressful than it was last year - and half of their staff feel they need stress management training, according to a new report.

The survey, by support software vendor Royalblue Technologies, reveals that IT managers cite staff shortages as their major bugbear, with a third saying it is their greatest frustration. Lack of senior support and being undervalued also rate highly.

Shortages are particularly acute in the North of England and in the public sector, where more than half of respondents said lack of staff caused stress. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that two in five existing staff have received no formal effective communications training.

Lee Chadwick, sales and marketing director at Royalblue, said: "The help desk bears the brunt of problems in the IT sector. It is often the worst hit by staff churn and the most affected by virus attacks, upgrade problems and user IT literacy levels."

"Yet companies seem strangely unwilling to invest in the non-technical training that frontline and managerial support staff obviously crave," he added.