London/Cambridge  - Many office workers in Germany struggle to understand complicated PC software designed for office usage, according to a survey by Global Solutions in Cambridge.

The survey, carried out among 1,015 office workers this February, showed that four out of 10 found the software at their workplace difficult to use.

Many of those quizzed believe that such user-unfriendliness has a negative effect on work performance, with 22 per cent claiming to lose up to five hours of work time a week as a result.

The amount of time wasted on getting to grips with office software varies. Some respondents (33 per cent) said at least an hour was lost or else 30 minutes a week (33 per cent).

The main bugbear for most users (38 per cent) is that office software generally has far more functions than they need. A further 30 per cent lamented that the software used at the office had been badly developed or was not compatible with other programmes.

Training deficits were cited by 21 per cent who said employers had not given them sufficient instruction in how to use office software. (dpa)