IT ignorance costs firms 13m working hours

12:53 7th November 2008

UK businesses lose over 13 million working hours a week as a result of IT illiteracy, according to City & Guilds research.

The vocational learning body conducted a study that disclosed that 5.3 million workers spend close to two and a half hours a week fixing their own and other colleagues IT problems.

In addition, the research highlighted the lack of IT skills training across many industries, while up to a third of workers report missing deadlines because of issues regarding IT.

Ken Gaines, IT product manager at City & Guilds, believes that businesses frequently expect staff to resolve IT problems without adequate training.

He said: "For the UK to remain globally competitive, workers at all levels need appropriate training to use current and emerging information technologies … without proper training, novices can end up costing companies far more in terms of productivity levels."

Last month, scientists at the Cern laboratory, which is home to the 'big bang machine', suggested that a global computer grid could be used to protect the world against disease pandemics.