82% of Workers Have Skipped Reporting an IT Problem, New Buchanan Technologies Report Finds
Buchanan Technologies 2026 IT Experience Gap Report reveals why understanding the employee experience requires looking
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GRAPEVINE, Texas, Oct. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As companies rely on service desk dashboards to measure IT support, much of the friction employees deal with may never show up in the numbers. The Buchanan Technologies 2026 IT Experience Gap Report found 82% of workers have decided an IT problem wasn’t worth reporting, leaving a gap that response and resolution times can’t capture.
Buchanan Technologies, a leading provider of managed IT services, surveyed 850 employed U.S. non-IT office workers in July 2026 using the third-party survey platform Pollfish. Eligible respondents must have contacted their workplace IT support within the previous three months.
The findings suggest the gap between IT metrics and the employee experience has more to do with visibility than performance. Employees are solving problems on their own or accepting closures that didn’t hold, and very little of that reaches the ticket record IT teams rely on.
Key findings from the Buchanan Technologies 2026 IT Experience Gap Report include:
- 82% have decided an IT problem wasn’t worth reporting, and half do it more than half the time.
- 92% have done at least one of three things that leave the record incomplete or inaccurate: skipped reporting a problem, used their own tool or AI, or filed a duplicate ticket. 78% have done at least two.
- 72% have used their own tool or AI instead of IT, including 26% who say it’s their go-to move.
- 80% have had a ticket marked resolved while they believed the problem remained, and 24% of those workers are still relying on a workaround or gave up.
- 66% have lost personal time to an unresolved IT problem, and 56% have missed a deadline or deliverable.
- 94% chose at least one experience-quality improvement. Only 6% chose faster response and resolution without one.
- 81% are completely or fairly confident their IT support team will solve their problems, which suggests the gap is about visibility more than performance.
“When employees tell us they trust their IT team and still work around it, that usually says more about the process than the people,” said Mike Werblun, CEO of Buchanan Technologies. “Every workaround is a small decision someone made because the official route felt slower, and those decisions add up across a company. The organizations that get ahead of this are the ones that ask employees how support actually went, then use those answers to decide what to fix first.”
The research comes as IT leaders look for ways to measure technology performance beyond traditional operational metrics. Buchanan Technologies recommends a conversation with your provider that pairs service level agreements (SLAs) with experience level agreements (XLAs) to connect technology performance with the employee experience. By identifying where friction is affecting productivity across the organization, XLAs can give business and IT leaders a clearer view of where technology is enabling work, and where the experience can be improved.
For IT leaders, the takeaway is that a healthy dashboard can sit alongside a frustrating employee experience. Organizations that measure what never becomes a ticket, along with whether closed tickets actually stayed fixed, will have a clearer picture of how support is working for their people.
Frequently asked questions about IT support:
Why do employees skip reporting IT problems?
Employees skip reporting IT problems when an issue feels too minor or too much hassle to be worth a ticket. 82% of workers have decided a problem wasn’t worth reporting, and half make that call more than half the time, so those issues never reach a ticket queue.
If employees trust their IT team, why don’t they report every problem?
Employees who trust their IT team still don’t report every problem because confidence in IT doesn’t guarantee a complete ticket record. 81% of workers are completely or fairly confident their IT team will solve their problems, yet 82% have decided a problem wasn’t worth reporting.
Why do employees use their own tools or AI instead of contacting IT?
Employees use their own tools or AI instead of contacting IT because self-service often feels faster than filing a ticket and waiting for a response. 72% of workers have solved an IT problem this way, and 26% say it’s now their go-to move.
What does it mean when an IT ticket is closed but the problem isn’t fixed?
An IT ticket that’s closed while the problem isn’t fixed means the ticket’s status and the employee’s experience no longer match. 80% of workers have had a ticket marked resolved while they believed the problem was still there, and 24% of those workers are still relying on a workaround or gave up.
Why do employees have to re-explain the same IT problem?
Employees have to re-explain the same IT problem mainly because of handoffs, when an issue moves from a chatbot to a person or between support tiers. More than half (55%) explain the problem from scratch most or every time that happens.
What do employees want most from IT support?
What employees want most from IT support is a fix they can count on, with speed ranking lower than many service desks assume. Only 6% chose faster response and resolution on its own, while 94% picked at least one experience-focused improvement, such as a fix that holds the first time or clear confirmation the problem is solved.
For the full results and additional insights, view the Buchanan Technologies 2026 IT Experience Gap Report.
About Buchanan Technologies
Buchanan Technologies is an award-winning managed IT services provider that helps mid-market and enterprise organizations across North America and Europe modernize and secure their technology environments. With over 900 certified professionals across 10 global locations, services span Infrastructure and Enterprise Applications, including Service Desk, On-site Support, Cloud, Cybersecurity, and AI solutions. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, Buchanan serves more than 500 clients across multiple industries. Key strategic partnerships with Oracle, Microsoft and AWS, combined with Gartner recognition, the HDI Pinnacle of Excellence award, and a 97% CSAT, demonstrates Buchanan’s commitment to quality, innovation, and measurable results. Learn more at buchanantech.com.
Media Contact
Idea Grove, on behalf of Buchanan Technologies
buchanantechnologies@ideagrove.com
