Online business opportunities ignored

Management institute survey reveals IT sector not exploring online potential

A survey of 862 UK companies has revealed that IT sector employers are failing to harness online technology themselves to boost efficiencies.

Mike Petrook, a spokesman for the Chartered Management Institute, said cyber-cynicism is holding back IT businesses of all sizes.

“We surveyed 862 employers in the UK. We included organisations with 25 to 10,000 or more employees,” he said.

“Employers appear wary of technology but it is there to be used, to make life easier.”

The statistics are from a study examining the workplace effect of younger staff that have grown up with the internet.

Twenty-six per cent of staff aged 35 or under surveyed at the 862 companies said their employers wait too long before adopting online technology that can help their businesses grow.

Ten per cent of employees described their companies as dinosaurs in their attitude to technology.

“Against this backdrop, 77 per cent of individuals in the sector suggest they access the internet for professional development and 64 per cent say it helps them for work,” Petrook said.

Yet 60 per cent of their employers monitor staff internet use, 55 per cent block some websites, and 12 per cent only allow access at certain times.

Jo Causon, director of marketing at the institute, said organisations need to harness the confidence of younger individuals online.

“Failure to do so will lead to the loss of top talent or let competitors build advantage through a better equipped and enabled workforce,” she said.