Despite the recession, a new survey of IT professionals has found the majority would not leave a job with a company that had a good working culture for a higher salary.
Over 76 per cent of those questioned by online recruiter, The IT Job Board said that working culture was either important or very important to them when looking for a new IT job.
But 32 per cent stated that the culture of an organisation was actually more important than the salary offered. While 38 per cent also considered it more significant than flexible working.
The two most important factors that emerged when polled on what constitutes a good working culture were a less hierarchical structure (cited by 65 per cent) and the provision of communal or relaxing areas in the office (38 per cent).
A further 84 per cent said they believed such a culture would create a positive working environment, with 76 per cent saying they thought productivity would be boosted as a result.
Alex Farrell, The IT Job Board's managing director, urged IT department heads to review their working environment and gauge how conducive it is to increasing productivity.
"We knew a good working culture would be important, but we didn't expect the figures from the survey in its favour to be so high," added Peter Healey, The IT Job Board's sales director.
"In uncertain times such as these, it's important people feel confident with the position their in," Healey said.
He added: "Anyone who feels they are in a positive environment, where things get done effectively will probably feel more job security which, in this current economic climate, is going to be more important than the figure on their pay cheque every month. It is also really useful information for our clients to have."
