Pressurised IT directors want to escape manufacturing

The organisation, which interviewed 151 IT managers and directors in UK companies across a range of industries finds only 4% want to be the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. It also reveals that only 32% of manufacturing IT directors believe they are seen as the ‘real person running the business’ – although the same number also thought they were ‘a small but vital part of the food chain’. Says Connect CEO Mark MacGregor: “In manufacturing industry, IT directors are under huge pressure to deliver complex systems on restricted budgets, and meet the future wants of the organisation. The evidence of this survey is that this pressure is having a major impact on IT directors.” Unsurprisingly, 29% of the IT directors believed that tackling everyday IT problems was their biggest headache, while 21% were worried about a lack of understanding by staff in the use of IT processes. Beyond that, 29% of manufacturing IT directors work 45 hours a week, with one in five (26%) putting in more than 50 hours a week. “Companies need to find better ways of giving their directors smart solutions to relieve this major day to day pressure,” says MacGregor.