Study: IT morale hitting bottom

The latest Meta Group research, the IT Staffing and Compensation Guide, has found 71 percent of IT managers citing burn out and low morale as serious problems. Cutbacks, which at many organizations hit alongside greater expectations from IT, have taken their toll in the past two years.

Maria Schafer, Meta's IT Human Capital Management Strategies program director, said in a statement: "Working through this prolonged recession, which has seen budget cuts across the enterprise, numerous staff cutbacks and general sector uncertainty, has definitely taken its toll on IT employee morale."

"Unfortunately it is those same budget cuts that are impeding managers from combating the problem by way of making concrete improvements."

With budgets cut or, at best, frozen IT bosses are looking at training and retention programs as a way to maintain morale. Meta found 55 percent of companies have started skills development programs. Paying more is a "viable Plan B", according to the analyst house, with 11 percent of organizations doing so. Many others simply cannot afford to.

One unique policy on the part of remotely located organizations is to entice talented staff by promoting a 'change of scenery'. Indeed, 5 percent of companies polled moved to a completely new location just for this reason.