Much needs to be done to ease the intense pressure, inequality and exclusion in technology jobs, according to the report's author Sean O'Riain, Professor of Sociology at the University of California.

He looked at the characteristics of hi-tech workplaces, and concluded that the individualistic, macho culture of tech jobs was putting women off applying, despite an often critical shortage of skills.

In his study, Professor O'Riain found a fiercely competitive world, which one software engineer described as a "white collar factory".

Do you recognise these problems in your job? How could the workplace be improved?

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This Talking Point has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

We are still isolated, work long hours and all deal with job insecurity

J Watanabe, Japan

I never lived in the 50s or 60s, but from what I understand, typically any engineering related job is isolated and insecure, and hi-tech is no exception. It's demanding and people need to rely on technology, but once a project is done, the company doesn't want to keep those who made a great contribution. Perhaps we will be able to choose a more relaxing environment in the future, but we are still isolated, work long hours and all deal with job insecurity.
J Watanabe, Japan

For many people (especially in Britain where the "cotton mill mentality" persists so strongly) the findings will hold true. But we have the power to change our environment. I've been in the internet trade for several years now and there are lots of dodgy companies who want to capitalise on hype. However there are also some good companies who want to do creative things with technology. I would agree very strongly with the people who advocate not working extended unpaid hours just because it's culturally accepted. It's all too easy to forget that there's a world outside the cubicle. This is the age of self-realisation!
David Libby, Switzerland

How about a brief job swap with the firefighters? Truth is neither are nearly as hard done by as they make out. This sort of competitive whinging rather demonstrates just how comfortable we in the 21st century developed world really are.
"Desk Slave" Sam, UK

Sooner or later companies will have to learn that they can't have it every which way

John B, UK

I refuse to work substantially over my contracted hours and so far am suffering nothing more than marginally pointed comments on the odd days I do work late. If more people stuck to the terms of their contracts it would make life better for everyone, especially since so many firms don't pay overtime! Before working 10-15 hours extra per week, ask yourself how long you would get away with working 10-15 hours less per week. Sooner or later companies will have to learn that they can't have it every which way.
John B, UK

I agree with John B, companies and groups go on about the need for flexibility. What they really mean is do the same job with less staff and paying no overtime. If you have contracted hours, this should be respected - I get very upset if a meeting starts to overrun into home time. I saw my father work all hours only to be made redundant from the firm he worked for for 30 years. We spend a third (or more) of our life in work and we have to enjoy it, or we go mad, but at the end of the day it is just a job and family and health is more important.
Mark, UK

Despite modern day technology, we spend longer hours at work than a 19th century worker. Email is a good example. Even with email taking over the traditional mail service, I do not see my working hours being shortened.
Janine, UK/Singapore

A job is only as permanent as the company that provides it

M, Italy

I've worked in three different countries, Australia, the UK and Italy, and it's the same in all three. There are two basic strands in IT: programmers and engineers. I'm in engineering. In my industry, banking and finance, my IT colleagues and I average 50 to 60 hours a week, that's 25% higher than other employees in the sector, and many of us in IT do a lot more from time to time, including weekends. The culture is isolation, fear and anxiety of losing one's job, even if, like me, you have a permanent one. A job is only as permanent as the company that provides it. My company will soon be closed and we will all be back to square one trying to find other jobs.
M, Italy

I work in the aerospace industry and the computer is the tool of my trade. The message that the report conveys is in essence correct. Computer users can be deprived human interaction and thereby denied both accurate communication inputs and recognition of their outputs. Managers are the principal villains of the piece. As a group they seem to manage by edict and regard any questions as counterproductive and negative.
Roy Gardiner, USA, UK ex-pat

The software factory is subject to the same forces of production and conflicts that exist in any other industry

Simon Soaper, England

I'm amazed that anybody actually thought that a software factory was in any way different to a clothes factory/washing machine factory or any other place of production. The software factory is subject to the same forces of production and conflicts that exist in any other industry.
Simon Soaper, England

The comparison is ridiculous. I'm a software engineer myself, but have worked in abattoirs, supermarkets and warehouses. My take home pay is roughly treble what it was in the other jobs, I sit in a comfortable, quiet private office in a padded swivel chair and even in the current downturn I see similar positions being advertised locally every day. Deadlines and the pressure to perform are part of the job and only cause a problem if you are either inadequately qualified for the job (many tech workers are) or simply have a bad boss.
Graham, UK

I don't really feel that this is the case. The only time you get problems are when you have to deal with the end user. When dealing with other IT professionals you generally find that everyone understands the problems you face and everyone knows the deal. The most annoying ones are suits and account managers, but if you dazzle them with enough science, they soon go away. If you don't like sitting in a comfortable office working in a field that interests you, you can always quit.
John, England

Job insecurity is rife as is sexism

Kathy, UK

I've worked for IT companies all my adult life and competition is extremely strong because the pay has been consistently higher than in other comparable industries. However hours are very long, I drove 92,000 business miles in two years, I worked for a company who routinely dismissed women for becoming pregnant and threatened others against acting as witnesses. I have seen a colleague collapse with stress-induced illness. Job insecurity is rife as is sexism. But in the end it is my choice and I stayed because I will pay off my mortgage before I am 40.
Kathy, UK

The report is spot-on. With 35+ years of experience in electronics and IT, my experience counts for nothing in the boss's eyes. All you get is threats of "do it my way, or else". Part of this is due to the "profit before all else" culture - the origin of which can be traced to the US work ethic. Just take a look at the life expectancy of hi-tech products and you'll get the idea. No wonder this industry is slowly dying - it has no long-term future.
Anon, UK

I have worked in real factories, and now in software development

Sven, UK

I have worked in real factories, and now work in a software development environment. My current working environment is clean, comfortable, and temperature controlled. The work is also safer, and the end product is not as tangible, but that is where the distinctions end. I have the same working relationships with my colleagues now as I did in a factory. The same pressures exist, and the hours are similar.
Sven, UK

I gave up a highly paid and highly qualified job for a well known multinational after being told in my performance review that I was not a team player and I was not pulling my weight. This was after I refused to work more than 50 hours a week for months on end, with no overtime compensation, no flex-time compensation and not a single person saying "thank you". I declared that my family and my health had to come first. I now earn less than half of what I used to, but I'm smiling again.
Christine, UK

Completely agree with this report. Bosses don't lead with imagination - they don't understand the work but they do understand how to exploit their employees. A few are happy with little gestures like free pizza and Coke and this makes them the "shining example" - held up when performance is measured. It's all geared up to suit the few lonely geeks.
Johnny, UK

Being a male I find it very comfortable to work in a male dominated environment (IT - modern office). My colleagues share my humour and outlook and we josh along very cheerfully. Why can't environments just be happy rather than conforming to PC values? I previously worked in teaching which is rather female dominated and found that everything was rather stifling.
Christian Tiburtius, UK

As an IT contract worker, the main pressures I have found are burnout from long commutes to temporary contract sites and the long hours required to get the work done on time, and the constant self-retraining (at my own expense) that is required to remain competitive in a workplace that sees increasing competition for jobs.
Andy, UK

IT is a dying industry

Keef, UK

Technology jobs have become a bit of a battery farm recently. The current decline of the IT industry means that very skilled people are doing jobs that are beneath them, and cannot complain about the conditions because there are more than enough people out there to replace them. IT is a dying industry.
Keef, UK

One major difference between the present software "factories" and the industrial revolution factories is that the modern worker has greater ownership in Marxian terms of the means of production, namely their brains. The crown jewels of software companies are the top programmers, not how many PCs or servers they have. I accept that it's still hard to compete against Microsoft, Adobe, and the like, but one of the prime reasons the dot-com phenomenon could happen was that anyone who could write reasonable code and had an idea could start a software company with little if any capital. You could never do the same in manufacturing in a traditional factory.
Ray, USA