Nearly 60 percent of respondents believe that automation can address burnout and improve job fulfilment, according to a survey commissioned by UiPath (NYSE: PATH), a leading enterprise automation software company.
It also found that 57 percent report that they view employers that use business automation to help support employees and modernise operations more favourably than those that do not.
Employees are being asked to do more work with less support, with 28 percent of all global respondents saying they have been asked to take on more tasks at work in the past six months because of layoffs or hiring freezes.
As work pile-up takes a toll on employees—more than one in four workers (29%) around the world report feelings of burnout—more staffers are leaning on AI tools to provide relief, giving rise to the Automation Generation.
The Automation Generation
The Automation Generation does not represent a specific age or demographic, but rather, the professionals embracing AI and automation to be more collaborative, creative, and productive. This generation of workers wants these technologies to enrich their work and personal lives and prevent them from feeling like robots themselves.
Thirty-one percent of all respondents are already using business automation solutions at work. Of these workers comprising the Automation Generation, 87 percent feel like they have the resources and support needed to do their job effectively and 83 percent believe business automation solutions can help address burnout and enhance job satisfaction.
The survey of 6,400 workers from across the world also found:
- Automation Generation workers desire flexibility, upward mobility, and focus time at work: When asked what aspects of their job would change with the help of automation tools, respondents said they wanted more flexibility when it comes to their work environment (34%), more time to learn new skills (32%), and more time during the workday to focus on critical tasks (27%).
- Global workers are increasingly looking for automation and AI-powered tools to help with mundane, repetitive tasks: 58 percent of global respondents believe that automation can address burnout and improve job fulfilment, Respondents ranked the following tasks as the ones they most wanted automation to assist with: analysing data (52%); inputting data/creating datasets (50%); resolving IT/technical issues (49%); and running reports (48%).
- Younger employees are more receptive to the potential of AI-powered automation in helping them at work: More than half of all Generation Z (69%), Millennial (63%), and Generation X (51%) respondents think that automation would help them do their jobs better, while only 44 percent of Baby Boomer respondents feel similarly.
Brigette McInnis-Day, Chief People Officer at UiPath, says:
“Disruption in the workplace and macroeconomic factors often mean employees are asked to bear that burden by doing more with less—but it doesn’t need to be that way.
“The employees of Automation Generation are embracing AI-powered automation so they can better manage their workloads, excel in their careers, and improve their work-life balance. Businesses that deploy AI in an open, flexible, and enterprise-ready way are best positioned to attract and retain the types of employees that will help them thrive in an automation-first world. Automation is a key differentiator for companies to attract and retain by empowering employees and driving engagement.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
