Multitasking tech staff risk becoming mugs - Randstad

Recruiter claims more than 90 per cent of UK IT staff are confident about their multitasking skills

Tech staff in the UK are the most confident when it comes to multitasking compared with any other industry, according to research from Randstad. But the recruiter warned that busy techies risk becoming inefficient "multitasking mugs".

More than 90 per cent of respondents who work within tech in the UK are positive about their ability to cope with carrying out a number of tasks at once, with only one per cent deeming themselves terrible at it, the research continued.

Randstad also found that 82 per cent of tech employees felt that multitasking was a valued quality in their role. This was the highest of any UK sector.

However, the recruiter says that multitasking comes at a price, as those who work within IT allegedly experience an 11-minute lag in work efficiency when moving from one job to another. This is almost double the UK average of six minutes.

Ruth Jacobs, managing director of Randstad Tech, said: “Tech workers risk moving from being 'multitasking masters' to 'multitasking mugs'. While their ability to use technology more effectively than their peers in other sectors gives them some protection from multitasking's cognitive effects, they are by no means immune.”

Two solutions the recruiter offered to avoid any perils associated with multitasking were to minimise distraction by silencing phones, or shutting down emails, for example.

It also suggested grouping similar activities together to avoid a decline in productivity caused by jumping from job to job.

Jacobs continued: “Tech workers need to be aware that, even for them, multitasking can inhibit effectiveness.

“With that in mind, they should categorise their workload so they can distinguish the more intellectually challenging tasks – which would require their undivided attention – from the more everyday ones, which can be performed in conjunction with each other."