Tech Support is Trying to Do Too Much with Too Little

Posted In Job News

Some good news if you’re looking for a job in tech support: Departments are understaffed and juggling too many requests, in turn leading to long wait times for people who are sure they have better things to do. While this isn’t new, a survey of CIOs by Robert Half found that support teams are, on average, 42 percent smaller than they should be.

CIOs like a 65 to 1 ratio of end users to technical support employees. The reality right now is a ratio of 112 to 1. Complicating things even more: New technologies are being introduced at breakneck speed.

Small firms — those with 100 – 249 employees — were the most understaffed. Mid-sized companies — with 250 – 449 employees — were closest to their ideal ratios.

Source: Robert Half

About Chandler Harris

Chandler Harris is a freelance business and technology writer located in Silicon Valley. He has written for numerous publications including Entrepreneur, InformationWeek, San Jose Magazine, Government Technology, Public CIO, AllBusiness.com, U.S. Banker, Digital Communities Magazine, Converge Magazine, Surfer's Journal, Adventure Sports Magazine, ClearanceJobs.com, and the San Jose Business Journal. Chandler is also engaged in helping companies further their content marketing needs through content strategy, optimization and creation, as well as blogging and social media platforms. When he's not writing, Chandler enjoys his beach haunt of Santa Cruz where he rides roller coasters with his son, surfs and bikes across mountain ranges.

Comments

  1. Pingback: Onsite Technical Support - Clear Vision Partners

  2. BY Mike says:

    65 to 1 ratio? Based on what statistics? Does that ratio result in a staff that is always busy with no “down time” to refresh, learn new skills, etc?

    Is anyone in IT triaging the requests? Are they being assigned correctly? Is the staff properly trained to provide support? Have the end-users been properly trained in order to reduce the number of support calls that do not actually require IT attention?

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