How many Air Miles do techies rack up?

Surprising new research has claimed that IT workers actually travel less on business than their average peer in other sectors.

Such findings may shock those in the IT industry who are travelling from site to site and project to project, attending customer meetings and partner events and racking up the Air Miles weekly, but they may also suggest the techies are simply ahead of the curve in adopting technologies that limit the need for time out of the office – such as video conferencing, webinars and more advanced work share, document management and collaborative tools.

Certainly, those tech sector workers who were surveyed by Barclaycard claim to have travelled less last year than they did in 2003.

The average days per week spent out of the office fell from 2.8 to 2.4 year on year. There was also a drop of nights spent away from home, from five per month to 4.1, year on year.

However, more than a quarter (28 per cent) of respondents still claim to be spending more than five days each month away from home.

But it seems a little bit of travel broadens the mind and makes for a happy workforce – or at least two thirds of the workforce.

The research found 65 per cent of respondents enjoy travelling, while 32 per cent said they didn't – a dissenting figure which was higher than any other sector.

Of those who said they didn't like to travel, 70 per cent said it intrudes on their personal life, while 65 per cent added it is tiring and stressful and 55 per cent said they don't like staying away from home. A grumbling 35 per cent said travelling on business is mundane.

Almost a third of workers in the IT sector (29 per cent) said they have tried to reduce the amount of time they spend away but have failed, while 38 per cent said they have succeeded in reducing the amount of time away.