A survey of more than 500 US IT leaders suggests that 58% are actively looking for a new role because they aren’t being listened to in company decision-making, and this is on top of the loss of software developers.

According to a survey by Zoho-owned ManageEngine, 41% of IT leaders feel they were not consulted at all or only minimally before organisational decisions were made regarding hybrid work arrangements.

Examples, where the report found that non-IT departments had final say, included app and IT software purchases (54%), IT audit facilitation (52%), device purchases (45%), and tech talent hires (48%).

Eighty-one percent of IT decision-makers said they deserved more support from their employer over the previous two years as they adapted to remote and hybrid work models, indicating that they, too, feel underappreciated by senior company leadership. In a similar vein, 56% of IT managers reported having less loyalty to their company now compared to two years ago.

Even though IT departments have become “indispensable to business innovation and continuity,” according to Zoho Corporation’s chief strategy officer Vijay Sundaram, upper-level management still doesn’t consider them when making crucial business decisions.

Despite the fact that 88% of respondents attribute more business innovation to IT than ever before and 85% agree IT could drive even greater business innovation with a stronger leadership position, IT is not given one.

Sundaram predicted that as hybrid workplaces and decentralised teams became the norm, the role of IT within organisations would grow in significance. In fact, ninety-nine percent of those polled reported that their company had adopted a hybrid strategy. To “identify appropriate technologies and meet corporate guidelines in areas like compliance, privacy, and security,” he continued, “will require the expertise and involvement of ITDMs.”

It’s flextime or bust

Nearly half (48%) of IT leaders surveyed by ManageEngine said they would resign from their position if flexible work was no longer an option. This should serve as a warning to any employers thinking of eliminating such benefits. Nearly as many people (45%) say they would leave their current job if they were denied a promotion or other form of professional growth.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of IT leaders said they were more willing to make a “risky” career move than they were two years ago, suggesting that they are optimistic about the demand for their expertise in an increasingly competitive hiring market.

In spite of this, business leaders still have a chance to keep their IT leaders, who are eager to advance in their positions and the company. In a survey of employees’ long-term career goals, 41% said they want to steer organisational change within the next five years, while 38% want to advance in their current position. About a third of people who responded to the survey favoured an increase in pay to keep up with inflation.

Results are consistent with those of a global survey of 8,000 IT professionals and decision-makers conducted by Skillsoft in early October, which found that, despite high levels of reported job satisfaction, more than half of technology professionals planned to change roles within the next year.

Increased pay (cited by 38% of job seekers), better career prospects and work-life balance (cited by 33%), and a lack of training and development opportunities (cited by 25%) were also major factors.