A quarter of IT staff in small and medium-sized businesses have suffered verbal or physical abuse at work, and many are looking for careers elsewhere, according to new research from IT support firm Connect.

The study also found that over a third have suffered from sleepless nights or headaches as a result of IT problems at work, while 59 per cent spend between one and 10 hours a week working on IT systems outside normal hours.

"With so many companies experiencing financial problems in the past year, it is not surprising that there is additional stress on IT managers, no doubt because technology is such a vital part of most enterprises," said Mark MacGregor, chief executive of Connect.

"But it is hugely disappointing that, all too often, this has led to them being verbally or even physically abused. Many of those working in IT will have used the Christmas break to recover from a tough 2008."

The biggest cause of stress among IT staff is problems arising from operational day-to-day tasks, the survey found. Another major cause came from loss of critical data, according to Connect. Ten per cent of the companies surveyed said they had lost critical data through backup tape failures.