Outdated technology continues to ruin people`s days

New research by Currys PC World in collaboration with technology expert Theo Priestley claims that outdated technology and delays in finding fixes are eating into around 46 minutes of the average employee’s working day, which could cost a business approximately £2,752 a year. Time and money are not the only things lost to outdated technology, however, as half of Brits admit that it has a negative impact on their productivity in their jobs. What’s more, morale can be impacted when employees feel they have to work overtime to make up the time they have lost due to tech issues.

With 46 minutes wasted a day due to outdated tech, this works out to 24 days of working time per year, the report claims. Specifically, 8.8 days are lost at the hands of lagging meeting room technology, 10.4 days can be held accountable to slow software and a further 8.8. days are lost booting up the computer.

According to the report:

The average employee loses 24 days of worktime a year to outdated technology, costing the business £2,752

• Office workers spend more time waiting on slow technology than they spend on holiday
• 8.5 days are lost per employee to opening and sending emails, costing the business approximately £975
• Tech delays eat into 8.8 days’ worth of meeting time per employee, which could cost a business £1,009
• Slow software could cost a business £1,193 per employee due to tech delays taking up an average of 10.4 days of worktime
• Just booting up the computer wastes 8.8 days of worktime for the average British worker, costing a business £1,009 per employee a year
• A third of UK workers lose motivation when they have to wait on slow technology
• 28 percent of Brits work extra hours to account for the time lost to tech delays throughout the day
• 1 in 10 say tech hold-ups at work make them want to quit their job

Theo Priestley says, “the value of upgrading technology goes beyond improved efficiency through automation. Deployed in the right way, the right technology can promote a more collaborative and diverse workforce and encourage them to be more productive. Technology can also promote an inclusive culture, improving morale and connecting employees and disparate departments that would normally operate in silos.”

The report claims that another factor to consider is the security of outdated technology, which can leave a business financially and intellectually vulnerable. Priestley explains: “Outdated technology and software means easy exploitation from inside and outside the organisation. If you’re not using the latest versions of operating systems, or software that you’ve invested in then there’s greater chance for someone to exploit known weaknesses in that system and expose or steal data or valuable company information from them.”