Three years after the pandemic, the top IT-related search term is "How do I join a Zoom meeting?" This is according to a new study conducted by IT support company Electric (opens in a new window) .
Employees reportedly spend an average of three hours a week fixing technical problems, ranging from internet connection problems to lost files, in the face of Apple's cutthroat turnaround.
Remote workers struggle the most, with 73% spending time each week solving technical issues, compared to hybrid workers (41%) and office workers (22%). Remote workers also experienced more problems each week, with an average of 4.1, hybrid 3.7 and face-to-face 3.0.
These problems burn a hole in the company's wallet. According to research, people spend an average of 2.7 hours a week solving problems. This results in approximately $4,072 in annual labor costs, calculated using an average hourly wage of $29.
The cost of remote workers is even higher at $4,524 per year. This may be one reason why many companies are asking their employees to change from pajama pants to pants and back to the office, reversing policies during the pandemic.
(Credit: Electric)
The top three issues that took the longest were: persistent computer freezes (54%), data loss or corruption (35%), and network connection problems (29%). If we look at the entire list of problems, almost all of them are hardware related. These include slow or unresponsive computers (18%), keyboard problems (21%), files not opening properly (25%) and more. Printers also made the list, with 19% of them reporting problems.
So what do you do when you have a technical problem? Nearly half of the respondents said they solved the problem themselves. About a quarter of the shift to technical support or other staff.
Boomers are 88% more likely than other generations to ask their peers for help with technical issues, especially members of Gen Z. Nearly three in five Zoom users say they are constantly asked technical questions by their peers, hindering their professional growth.
(Credit: Electric)
Google and other Internet search engines are another bogus source of IT support. The most popular question - by a mile - is "How do I join a Zoom meeting?" With 7.25 million searches in 2022, according to Google Trends. "How to change Zoom background?" second with 1.4 million searches.
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Another common question regarding video conferencing is, "How do I record on Google Meet?" Of course, hangouts settings are still confusing.
(Credit: Electric)
Companies seem to know that their employees often face technical challenges, with four in five respondents saying their company provides training to improve their technical skills. But even after training, 55% say their company's technology is out of date, which can cause problems with computers crashing and crashing, no matter how much training they've received.
When employees contact customer support, less than half (44%) say they usually fix the problem.
(Credit: Electric)
Survey Methodology : IT support company Electric recruited 1,049 Americans (56% male, 43% female). Respondents are 15% Gen Z, 58% Millennials, 17% Gen X, and 10% Baby Boomers. Search trends data is pulled from Google Trends 2022 and includes technical queries across the 50 most populous US states and 50 cities.
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