CIOs Are A Frustrated Bunch

A new study says top tech execs are more unhappy at their jobs than any other group of execs surveyed. What do CIOs want?The theme song for CIOs and other tech leaders these days appears to be Bono singing "And I still haven't found what I'm looking for..." (And cavorting around the streets of Las Vegas, probably at a tech industry conference.)

In a study released earlier this week by ExecuNet, an executive placement firm, almost 60% of 140 top technology execs interviewed say they're unsatisfied, or only somewhat satisfied, with their jobs. (My colleague Marianne Kolbasuk McGee wrote a news story about it that you can read here.) Of those 140 tech executives, 37% were CIOs, 22% VPs, and 41% directors of IT.

That's the highest dissatisfaction level of any single group among all 2,149 executives involved in the survey. For the record, the highest satisfaction levels were reported by HR execs and chief financial officers. So money and power make people happy? Who would have guessed.

What are tech execs' biggest complaints? The challenge of trying to do more with less, in terms of technology and resources, and the frustration of not being involved with the most challenging technology.

Too challenging? Or not challenging enough? What do CIOs want? Seriously, I'm asking. Are you happy in your job? Or is there more-or less-that you could be doing?