Rather than putting jobs at risk, factory automation and robots could help tackle ‘worringly’ industry-wide knowledge and skills gaps, new research suggests.
A survey of 2,500 business respondents across 14 countries, from Epicor Software Corporation, found that more than half (54 per cent) reckon robots automate repetitive or mundane work that they would otherwise have to do themselves,
According to the global provider of industry-specific software, that humans are happy to work alongside robots is good news for employers that want to use cutting-edge technology, to plug a growing skills gap on their factory floors.
The same research found that the industrial workforce is getting older, and that only a quarter (23 per cent) of businesses are currently able to attract recruits with the right knowledge.
Use of robots can introduce efficiencies where human resource is low, and they can also encourage young talent into industry – with one third of millennials wanting to work at the cutting-edge of new developments.
Many employees are aware of the benefits of automation, because they already have first-hand experience of robot workmates. One third (31 per cent) report that artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and highly automated machinery, are now a common feature of their day-to-day work, while a similar figure (34 per cent) agree that robots are more efficient than humans in the workplace.
Individuals that work in finance, and those that work in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region may be more up for working with robot co-workers than anyone else – 47 per cent of respondents in APAC agree robots are more efficient than humans (compared to 29 per cent in Europe and Middle East).
One third of those who work in finance agree robots can take stressful tasks away from humans (compared to 23 per cent in IT and one fifth of CEOs).
“The study shows us that the use of robots is a very real, but also very welcome way of solving an otherwise worrying industry-wide knowledge and skills gap,” said Terri Hiskey, vice president, product marketing, manufacturing, at Epicor.
“With employers struggling to find candidates with the right skills or knowledge for entry-level roles, and with employees struggling to keep up with the pressures of business growth, automating aspects of the workforce offers a new way of building efficiencies into the supply chain, and enabling digital transformation.”
