One in five British employees do not have the basic IT facilities they need to carry out their jobs, new research has revealed.

A survey of UK employees, conducted by Samsung, found that one in ten rated their firm's IT system as poor, with over a third believing it to be average.

However, many respondents also said that without technology, they would be unable to perform their jobs. Three quarters of people in the financial services industry said that IT was vital to their function.

Graham Paterson, IT business director at Samsung, said that though technology was now more central to the economy than ever before, many employees felt that more investment was needed in IT skills.

Failure to invest in training and up to date technology was a prime area for businesses to lose money through either loss of productivity or poor processes, he added.

Some respondents advised the development of internal IT qualifications and ensuring employees had the right skills to support business objectives.

"Our survey results suggest that organisations need to ensure IT policies are more closely aligned with employee activity and business strategy," said Paterson. "This would help to enhance productivity and ultimately eliminate a major cause of employee frustration in the workplace."