ByDr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR
DIGITAL JOURNAL
September 22, 2025
Man using a laptop at a conference. — Image © Tim Sandle
IT professional stress stems from techno-complexity, tight deadlines, long working hours, rapid technological changes, and work-life balance issues, leading to burnout, health problems, and decreased motivation. Another source, it would seem, stems from work colleagues outside of the IT function.
The company SolarWinds has released new global survey data on what irritates IT professionals. The survey also reveals what IT personnel want in return for keeping business systems running smoothly.
The findings come from 437 global IT professionals, and it finds that the most annoying phrase reported to IT by users is: “I didn’t touch anything”. This is followed by “You’re good with computers, right?” After this comes: “The Wi-Fi’s broken”.
The findings of the IT Community Pulse survey are based on research fielded in September 2025. This included IT professionals across a range of practitioner, manager, and director roles in Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific regions.
Information technology (IT) is a loaded term. For this reason, there remains ambiguity over what an IT professional does. Since IT encompasses many aspects of the world of computers and more, the work is highly varied.
The survey also finds that IT professionals often feel overlooked, underappreciated, as well as too often irritated by their colleagues. Almost a third (31%) of IT professionals say people only notice them when something explodes, while 28% wish colleagues understood they are juggling requests from every department, not just theirs.
The jargon being used in offices adds to the malaise. Nearly a third (31%) said that “AI” is the buzzword most likely to make them want to chuck their monitor out the window, followed by “digital transformation” (15%) and “seamless integration” (13%).
In terms of what IT teams actually want, 65% indicated they would prefer an unlimited IT budget; on a more realistic level, more than half (51%) of those surveyed suggested that a simple, heartfelt “thank you” would go a long way. Another 37% would settle for a public apology from non-IT staff.
Commenting on the findings, Sascha Giese, Tech Evangelist at SolarWinds, says in a statement sent to Digital Journal: “Every day, IT professionals keep networks secure, services running, and hybrid work alive. But it’s often without fanfare and usually without thanks. Instead, they’re constantly bombarded with frustrating jargon, unrealistic demands, and phrases that make their blood boil.”
Giese adds: “While there may be no cure for corporate buzzwords, and no such thing as an unlimited IT budget, there’s still plenty non-IT staff can do to make life easier for our misunderstood and underappreciated IT teams. A little patience goes a long way, and a simple ‘thank you’ might just be the easiest fix you give them all year.”
September 22, 2025
Man using a laptop at a conference. — Image © Tim Sandle
IT professional stress stems from techno-complexity, tight deadlines, long working hours, rapid technological changes, and work-life balance issues, leading to burnout, health problems, and decreased motivation. Another source, it would seem, stems from work colleagues outside of the IT function.
The company SolarWinds has released new global survey data on what irritates IT professionals. The survey also reveals what IT personnel want in return for keeping business systems running smoothly.
The findings come from 437 global IT professionals, and it finds that the most annoying phrase reported to IT by users is: “I didn’t touch anything”. This is followed by “You’re good with computers, right?” After this comes: “The Wi-Fi’s broken”.
The findings of the IT Community Pulse survey are based on research fielded in September 2025. This included IT professionals across a range of practitioner, manager, and director roles in Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific regions.
Information technology (IT) is a loaded term. For this reason, there remains ambiguity over what an IT professional does. Since IT encompasses many aspects of the world of computers and more, the work is highly varied.
The survey also finds that IT professionals often feel overlooked, underappreciated, as well as too often irritated by their colleagues. Almost a third (31%) of IT professionals say people only notice them when something explodes, while 28% wish colleagues understood they are juggling requests from every department, not just theirs.
The jargon being used in offices adds to the malaise. Nearly a third (31%) said that “AI” is the buzzword most likely to make them want to chuck their monitor out the window, followed by “digital transformation” (15%) and “seamless integration” (13%).
In terms of what IT teams actually want, 65% indicated they would prefer an unlimited IT budget; on a more realistic level, more than half (51%) of those surveyed suggested that a simple, heartfelt “thank you” would go a long way. Another 37% would settle for a public apology from non-IT staff.
Commenting on the findings, Sascha Giese, Tech Evangelist at SolarWinds, says in a statement sent to Digital Journal: “Every day, IT professionals keep networks secure, services running, and hybrid work alive. But it’s often without fanfare and usually without thanks. Instead, they’re constantly bombarded with frustrating jargon, unrealistic demands, and phrases that make their blood boil.”
Giese adds: “While there may be no cure for corporate buzzwords, and no such thing as an unlimited IT budget, there’s still plenty non-IT staff can do to make life easier for our misunderstood and underappreciated IT teams. A little patience goes a long way, and a simple ‘thank you’ might just be the easiest fix you give them all year.”
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