IT directors have the best job in the world, right?

All they have to do is sit in that big corner office, in that executive leather armchair, wearing a fancy suit and keeping themselves busy by counting all that lovely money they get.

Meanwhile, the real graft is done by the poor, hard-working coders down in the basement.

Unhappy businessman

Most hated: The IT director may appear cheerful, but inside they are weepingPhoto: Shutterstock

Few techies indeed would turn down the chance to be the IT director – getting the chance to use all those executive words like ‘synergy’ and phrases like ‘brand-enablement alignment strategy’ in presentations, while the rest of the board nods approvingly and hands over more money for projects they don’t understand.

And yet, could it be that the surge of envy techies feel every time the IT director makes a brief visit to the server room could be entirely misplaced? Could it be that while the IT director smiles cheerfully at their reflection in their shiny new iPad, inside they are weeping?

Yes, dear reader, it could.

Careers site CareerBliss recently analysed hundreds of thousands of employee-generated reviews from 2011 to come up with a list of the top 10 hated jobs.

And at the very top of the list? Yup, IT director.

According to the CareerBliss data, reasons why a job might make the list include people being dissatisfied with how much money they make, the hours they work and their chances for advancement. And in the case of the IT director, it’s a job marked by “nepotism, cronyism and disrespect for workers”, according to the survey. Wow. And you thought your job was bad.

Other hated jobs on the list include director of sales and marketing – that should need no explanation, followed by product manager – ditto. But the miserable IT director isn’t the only techie on the list. At number four is senior web developer, a job marked, according to the survey, by employers who are unable to communicate coherently and lack an understanding of the technology.

This results in miserable web developers who have to suffer their elegant designs being debased by ignorant clients who say things like, ‘I like it, but can you put in a few more animated gifs, maybe of jumping beans?’.

Technical specialists come in at five on the list, complaining that they are “treated with a palpable disrespect”, while technical support analyst made number eight on the list.

Frankly, I’m surprised this last job isn’t…

…further up the list. There’s only so many times you can say to an idiot user, in that resigned voice, “Have you turned off and on again”, before you wish you could do the same with your own besmirched soul.

Attached at the hip

Then again, perhaps all these depressed techies would feel a little bit happier if they left their hardware alone once in a while. For it seems that we are a nation sorely in need of lessons in tech-iquette.

Businessman asleep with phone

One in five men sleep with their phones next to them in the bed, according to a surveyPhoto: Shutterstock

A survey from Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance shows how reliant we are on staying connected through the day – and on a night out, and even when we’re tucked up in bed.

We spend an average of 48 minutes on our smartphone during a night out – sending up to three emails, 12 texts and two pictures, as well as posting three messages and two status updates on social media sites.

Frankly, with that level of social media usage, it’s amazing that any of us have the time to do anything that would actually be worth emailing, tweeting or Facebooking about.

As always, those pesky under-25s are the worst, spending up to an hour and a half glued to their phones on a night out.

But it doesn’t stop, even when we get home. Men keep their phones within reach for 17 hours per day, while one in five even sleep with their phones next to them in the bed. Women came out slightly better, spending 15 hours a day with their phones, while 16 per cent slept with their phones next to them.

Then again, 13 per cent of Brits said their partner spends more time on their phone than actually talking to them. See? It’s not all bad…

Elsewhere on silicon.com this week

Find out if you live in one of the areas soon to be graced with 300Mbps broadband, and check out our photos of Bletchley Park then and now, as the home of the World War II codebreakers wins a £4.6m lottery grant to save an important part of our tech heritage.

And of course, the sad news that overshadows all else this week is the passing of one of the world’s greatest technology visionaries: Steve Jobs. Take a look at our photo retrospective which celebrates the life of the creative genius who changed the way we use technology, and read why silicon.com columnist Seb Janacek believes we all owe Jobs a debt of thanks.

Rest in peace, Steve.