There are, of course, many factors behind the UK’s productivity performance, and technology is only one part of a much broader picture. 

However, new research from Propel Tech points to a more practical issue within individual organisations: the amount of time people believe they are losing simply trying to get work done.

Our 2026 Complexity Survey, based on responses from 1,375 people working across UK organisations, found that 68% estimate their organisation loses six or more hours every week to operational complexity. That includes time spent moving between systems, dealing with manual processes, searching for information and navigating other operational friction. Almost 44% estimate that more than ten hours a week is being lost in this way.

At an individual level, the picture is similar. More than half of respondents, 56%, estimate that they personally lose six or more hours each week because of operational complexity, with almost one in five putting the figure at between 11 and 20 hours. These are respondents’ own estimates rather than a measurement of actual productivity loss, but they provide a useful indication of how much time employees feel is being absorbed by the mechanics of getting work done.

Where is the time going?

The survey gives some insight into what is driving this lost time. Switching between multiple systems was identified as having the greatest impact on productivity by 17.4% of respondents, followed by a lack of systems integration at 14.5%. Limited use of AI and automation came next at 13.3%, followed by repetitive manual tasks at 11.4% and waiting for approvals at 10.9%.

Taken together, these findings paint a familiar picture for many organisations. People may have the software and information they need, but it is spread across different systems and processes. Employees then end up filling the gaps themselves, whether that means copying information from one application to another, checking several systems to find the right data or waiting for someone else to complete the next step.

These tasks can be easy to overlook because they rarely appear as a single, obvious productivity problem. Instead, they become part of the working day and are repeated across teams and departments.

That is particularly relevant when organisations are looking at how to improve productivity without simply asking employees to work faster or do more.

The technology problem hiding in plain sight

Most organisations have not deliberately set out to create a complicated technology environment. Technology estates tend to evolve over time as businesses grow, acquire new capabilities, respond to changing requirements and introduce new software.

A new system might solve an immediate business need, a spreadsheet might become an important operational tool, or a legacy application might continue to support a process that the business still relies on. More recently, AI tools and automation platforms are being added to the mix.

Individually, these decisions can be perfectly sensible. The difficulty can emerge later, when the connections between systems, data, processes and teams become increasingly difficult to manage.

The survey found that 56.9% of respondents believe operational complexity has increased over the past two years. Data spread across multiple systems was the most frequently identified source of complexity, selected by 16.6%, followed closely by disconnected systems at 15.7%.

The impact is being felt beyond the IT department. Operations and workflows were identified by 21.2% of respondents as the area experiencing the greatest friction, ahead of interdepartmental working, AI-enabled processes, finance and administration, and sales and customer management.

This suggests that technology complexity is increasingly an operational issue rather than something that sits neatly within the technology function.

The answer isn't necessarily another new system

There is a temptation when looking for productivity improvements to focus on what needs to be bought next. The survey suggests that businesses are also thinking about how they can get more from the technology they already have.

When asked which investment would have the greatest impact over the next two years, connecting existing systems was the most popular response, selected by 20.4% of respondents. Embedding AI into existing software followed at 18.6%, while automating manual processes was selected by 15.7%.

That is an interesting indication of where organisations currently see the opportunity. Rather than starting again, many businesses appear to be looking at how existing technology can be better connected and how some of the manual work around it can be reduced.

For some organisations, replacing legacy technology will be the right approach. For others, there may still be considerable value in existing applications if the gaps between systems can be addressed.

The first step is understanding where people are losing time and why. Which systems are they moving between? Where is information being entered more than once? Which processes still depend on manual workarounds? Where are people waiting for information or approval before they can continue?

Answering those questions can provide a more useful starting point for technology investment than simply looking for the next piece of software.

A practical opportunity for businesses

Technology will not solve every productivity challenge facing the UK, and the causes of the national productivity picture are considerably broader than the issues identified in this research.

At an organisational level, however, there is a clear opportunity to look more closely at the friction employees encounter every day.

The survey suggests that businesses are already considering this. Connecting existing systems is the leading technology investment priority identified by respondents for the next two years, while almost nine in ten are either exploring new software and AI capability or already have budget allocated for it.

The question for business and technology leaders is therefore not simply what new technology they should invest in. It is how that investment can remove the barriers that are already slowing people down.

In some cases, that could mean better integration between existing systems. In others, it could involve automating a manual process, modernising a particular application or developing bespoke software to connect systems that were never designed to work together.

For organisations looking for practical ways to release capacity and improve productivity, understanding those points of friction could be a good place to start.

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