Office workers are wasting hours by asking their IT department to sort out computer problems they should be able to tackle themselves, according to a report.
IT staff waste an average of 20 hours a month solving "simple" problems such un-jamming a printer or deleting emails.
A survey of 500 IT staff by recruitment firm Computer People found that two thirds had been called out to repair a "broken" monitor, only to find it hadn"t been plugged in.
Carole Hepburn, commercial director for Computer People, said: "In this age of technology there is no excuse for office workers not spending a couple of minutes trying to think through the problem rather than being too quick to pick up the phone and call for unnecessary help."
Staff in IT departments were spending the equivalent of almost three working days a month solving simple problems that office workers should be able to do themselves, says the report.