Nearly one in five U.K. workers has been late for a deadline because they couldn’t access the applications that they needed to properly do their jobs. As a result, 6 percent of workers have missed out on promotions, and 14 percent of workers have actually lost their jobs.

“Missing a deadline, which has happened to nearly 1 in 5 people, is perhaps a cost to the business rather than the individual,” said Paul Kenyon, COO of Avecto, the company that performed the survey, “but the fact that another 1 in 5 have lost a job or missed a promotion simply because they couldn’t access the applications they need, is inexcusable.”

Three in 10 of the people surveyed by Avecto reported that they didn’t have access to all of the applications that they needed to fulfill their duties at work. Also, nearly 25 percent of people have to call IT more than three times annually simply because they can’t get an application to work. In most situations, workers report, the problem boils down to admin rights issues.

Errors in admin rights designations cost not only individuals but also companies as a whole. Twenty percent of workers know someone who has breached IT security policy in their company. Sixteen percent reported that they would be tempted to use their admin rights to access sensitive data after they left the company.

“We always knew that there would be a significant impact on businesses if they mismanage user admin rights– security breaches, people accessing data after they leave or expensive help desk calls,” Kenyon noted. “This survey also reveals the shocking impact on individuals.”

Avecto utilizes the principle of least privilege when helping companies manage administrative access. Least privilege gives user accounts access only to programs that they need to complete their work. Employees, as a result, are free to do their jobs, and companies can count on safe networks and reduced tech support bills.

Kenyon, for his part, has dubbed the problem “loaphobia” (lack-of-application phobia). He remarked, “Perhaps this loaphobia will be the next thing worrying the U.K.’s workforce?”