Up to 80+ hours a year are wasted dealing with insufficient technology in the workplace, according to a new report.
One of the best VPN services, Atlas VPN, collected data from small business software provider Skynova, which surveyed over a thousand US citizens about the technology they use at work.
Millennials were the ones who reached the maximum number of lost hours calculated by multiplying the time lost per day – an average of 19.3 minutes – by the number of working days in a year. This corresponds to just over 10 working days per year.
Time wasted by the industry
They were closely followed by Generation X, who wasted 18.8 minutes a day (nearly 82 hours a year), closely followed by Generation Z (18.2 minutes a day/79 hours a year).
Across sectors, the financial industry lost the most time due to outdated technology, losing almost 24 minutes a day, or 103 hours a year. Next came healthcare, where workers wasted 23 minutes a day/nearly 100 hours a year, followed by government and retail, which averaged 19.4 minutes a day or 84 hours a year.
The rest comes from the hospitality and food industries (18.2 minutes a day/79 hours a year), the IT industry (17.1 minutes a day/74 hours a year) and the education sector (16.6 minutes a day/72 hours a year). .
Atlas VPN notes that while companies are committed to lowering their operating costs, they often neglect the “long-term consequences of outdated technology,” namely “inefficiencies and vulnerabilities that can lead to increased costs over time.”
Old software and hardware can leave companies vulnerable to serious cyberattacks and data breaches that have all sorts of negative consequences, causing them to lose money both directly and indirectly. For example, not only can ransomware make them pay to recover their stolen data (something we never recommend), but bad publicity can also lead to a serious loss of a customer.
“While newer technology may come at a higher price, not updating means the cost of using outdated technology will continue to rise,” says Atlas VPN. “Ultimately, investing in new technologies can ultimately lead to long-term cost savings and increased business efficiency and security.”