A recent poll of more than 100 IT directors found that IT managers spend one day in five embroiled in time-consuming administrative chores.

According to the research conducted by Vanson Bourne senior IT professionals are spending one whole working day each week on manual chores as businesses seek to reduce labour costs.

Around 70% of the participants held management-level positions. The survey found that at least 45% of managers in large organisations spend between 10 and 20% of their time on admin. In smaller companies the figure grew to about 58%.

“The results of this survey indicate that businesses are implementing drastic cost-cutting measures,” said Bruce Mills, Joint CEO of 3W IT Consulting & Contracting . “However, these apparent reductions in operating costs, come at the expense of a massive waste of IT talent.

“It’s astonishing that, with the recession hitting businesses hard, highly skilled workers are forced to spend valuable time on easily automated tasks,” Mills adds.

According to Mills, the focus should be on freeing up talented IT workers to tackle business-critical projects.

“In order to survive, businesses should trim down their business models, while ensuring that skilled labour is channelled into essential areas,” said Mills.