Interdepartmental warfare is epidemic at large companies, but it happens at small ones too. If your employees can push the power switch they become documented

Interdepartmental warfare is epidemic at large companies, but it happens at small ones too. If your employees can push the power switch they become documented as responsible for pushing the power switch and if something bad happens you can always push the blame onto the IT guy for not pushing the power switch for them, and as long as the IT guy isn't one of your direct reports you just "won" that round of office politics. Learned weakness is passive aggressive and very popular and effective as a weapon. A dry cleaner would never tolerate a customer demanding they shouldn't have to know how to zip up their pants or a plumber would never tolerate a customer demanding the plumber flush the toilet for them because they don't understand these pipey things. But IT guys are not known for their social skills and now every problem is their problem because only IT guys should have to know the technical details of putting paper in the printer. Resulting in the IT guy is the only person in the company responsible for the tax documents not being filed on time, or that lost big sale, because due to bad social skills the buck stops with IT instead of passing it like all the other departments do. (and edited to add that getting rid of a scapegoat, like "that bad IT guy" isn't magically going to get the tax forms sent by the deadline, picking a new scapegoat isn't going to fix anything) There's a side dish of LMFGTFY. Seriously, you're an adult who got themselves dressed and fed and drove to work, you goof off on facebook four hours per workday, you can handle using google. It's just a primate dominance ritual to force you to google something for me. No different than me demanding you wash my car or shine my shoes. Its even worse when its not work related. There is a difference between responsibilities and skills. An IT guy is responsible for keeping the wifi access point operational and secure. He's got a responsibility. He's not a bucket of skills waiting to be sloshed on anyone too lazy to plug in a power cord. The company made a huge mistake of hiring unskilled employees. If you want to use a centerless grinding machine on a factory floor to earn a profit, you hire machinists who have a clue about centerless grinding machines or you fail and go out of business. You don't yell at the only guy on the floor who knows what he's doing because he's a convenient low caste individual to blame or mumble about how people should be nicer because not everyone knows how to skillfully operate centerless grinder machines so its all somehow the fault of the one guy who knows. Learn or GTFO. If you want to use computers you hire staff who know computers or you go out of business because a competitor is more competent. All activity across all lines of business is a tightrope between applying your skills (which you better have else prepare to suffer or GTFO voluntarily or otherwise) vs respecting someone else area of responsibility, this is not an IT thing or a finance thing or a shipping thing this is a universal balance problem for all business activity. Management is 100% responsible for their mistake although it MIGHT be justified if there are extenuating circumstances. In that case expect complaints about general employee IT incompetence to be blown off by mgmt. "We hired you because you're great at Y, yes we know you're completely inadequate at X despite X being required to do your job, and every time you get involved with X its frustrating for everyone involved, everyone, I assure you, and nothing is going to change as long as you keep high performing in Y and carefully avoid any training or learning about X".