The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Email is top cause of workplace stress – report

'Technological paradox'

  • print
  • alert

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Email is the biggest headache for tech support staff and a major cause of stress in the workplace, according to a survey out today.

More than a third of IT managers quizzed for the report in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific said email software was the top support problem, says software company Support.com.

Around 23 per cent blamed computer password resets, and 20 per cent cited general enterprise and office applications, such as Microsoft Excel. Ten per cent said networking software errors were the top problem.

"Even basic, easy-to-fix malfunctions can be serious obstacles to a company's productivity, often halting communications for hours at a time," Support.com states.

"Although heralded as one of the most valuable business tools, the research suggests that email may be the largest cause of stress in the workplace," it continues.

According to Support.com marketing VP Bruce Mowery: "This study reflects a technological paradox, as business becomes increasingly reliant on advanced software and technology, it's often the simplest tools, notably email, that cause the most significant support issues." ®

Related Stories

'Cyberslackers' are curse of workplace

Cloud storage: Lower cost and increase uptime

More from The Register

Thanks, NSA: Amazon sales of Orwell's 1984 rise 9,500%
Citizens of Oceania bone up on the new reality
Microsoft to open Windows Stores inside 600 Best Buy locations
Product showcases 'must be seen to be believed'
 breaking news
Author Iain (M) Banks falls to cancer at 59
Misses the release of his final work
 breaking news
What did the Lehman Brothers implosion look like to a techie?
Insider tells all about the Gnab Gib at Lehmans
It's official: 'tweet' an English word – not just in the avian sense
If the Oxford English Dictionary says it is so, then it is so
 breaking news
The only Waze is Google: Ad giant tipped to gobble map app 'for $1.3bn'
Pac-Man-satnav-ish upstart in bidding war with Apple, Facebook
 breaking news
1-in-10 e-tomes 'are self-published'... most are 'rubbish' says book ed
Publishing man scoffs at go-it-alone writers, ursines still fouling in forests
 breaking news
Facebook RSS reader said to uncloak June 20
Secret event scooped by Scottish developer?