.....I'm dealing with workers whose only computer access is a couple of times a quarter when they get a break from their regular duties, to sit and watch some training videos on a computer in the training lab. They click randomly . They bury the window they are trying to work on, and can't click the icon on the taskbar and get it back. One new employee was trying to touch the mouse to the monitor screen to answer questions on the quiz at the end of a presentation. What do they teach kids in school, these days?

.....I can just see one of these folks managing to type in "regedit" by accident, and deciding to delete stuff.

.....Even among the computer literate, we have enough trouble with folks yakking on their cell phones all day. "What did I do today? I typed a letter, made 20 copies, talked to my mom, aunt and best friend, and got into a flame war on Consumerist.com and posted 20 times!" And, "I didn't get the timesheets done. I'm too busy! Waaaaahhh! I need someone to help me!"

Acid,

I can't help but wonder how much of your problem with unmotivated workers is actually caused by your network policies. I know I wouldn't be real motivated to work for someone who felt the need to limit what I could do to that degree. There's nothing as unmotivating to me, personally, as knowing that I'm not trusted. How do you have that kind of network policy and that kind of attitude about the people who work for you and still convince them that their contribution matters?

.....As a "people" manager, I'd say, "not so fast!" The tech is finally there for a lot of IT issues. The company I work for takes a sort of "total nazi" approach to network security. Most users on the network can't even change their screen saver, including the company C.E.O. The network DOES work, though. No, you can't check all of your blogs out, or forward hundreds of emails. But the system will be there for the work you need to get done...

.....The tech is getting better and better. Managing idiot, lazy American workers who miss work at the drop of a hat, has never been harder. Be careful what you wish for...

Douglas,

I disagree with your assertion that "there is so much neater, and more rewarding, work happening outside of the typical IT realms". As an IT specialist for a smaller organization, I have a breadth of responsibilities which allow me to work hands on with a variety of technology.

I believe your comments fit more appropriately to large IT organizations. Smaller shops, like mine and those of many of my associates in similar sized organizations, offer an IT professional a great opportunity for job fulfillment. I get to work with desktop support, networking, security, databases, development, training, audio, video, multiple OS, and more.


From my perspective, the small IT shop can provide great job satisfaction for the IT person who can adapt a variety of technologies to the business processes. I know it gets me to wake up earlier to rush in to work.

Steve

I think I would steer almost anyone away from an IT career these days. The fact is, there is so much neater, and more rewarding, work happening outside of the typical IT realms. I think of IT as almost a mail room type of job. Understaffed, un-supported, un-appreciated. While there are some IT departments doing great things, most have become just another cog in the bureaucratic machine that is business these days.

If people have technical chops they need to find some hungry startup or a large company that is doing amazing things (i.e. Google) and not spend the rest of their days fixing Windows or resetting network passwords.

Douglas

Funny, I was just thinking changing careers from Accounting to IT. I've been doing Accounting for 10 years and I hate it. I'm good at it, but prefer anything that has to do with tech. I read somewhere that the amount of high school grads choosing a career in IT is decreasing every year, mainly because outsourcing to other countries. Its a difficult world.

I think the problem isn't IT but their changing roll in the corporate structure. For many years IT has been content to hold up in our ivory towers, constructed of obtuse acronyms and convoluted explanations. As IT becomes a more integrated part of all levels of business, it leaves the "magic black box" stage. This allows, and necessitates, increased communication and eventually input from other departments. Consequently raising the stress and job load of the IT organization. This coupled with the atrocious state of both IT and Corporate management causes the social and political strains that make IT people want out. The overwhelming majority of IT workers I know, myself included, repeat versions of the same observation. "I like the tech if I just didn't have to deal with the politics." (or people, or users, or how ever it's stated).

We have to understand that this is the new "Standard Operating Procedure". We can't live by the edicts of IT from the past. We have to elicit buy in, communicate better, and yes, bow to the needs of the larger goals. We have made huge strides in the acceptance of better security policy. Now we have to accept the increased scrutiny and involvement from the outside that came with it. Those who lived in the back rooms, well away from the influence and complication of others in the company, will have to learn to play well with others. I doubt that management will fix it for us, we have to fix ourselves and learn to communicate more, with more transparency, and listen to the views of others. If not we will be washed aside as irrelevant, or worse an obstruction.