With automation fast becoming a reality for many Australian workers, attitudes are changing towards this in the workplace, with 64 per cent of Australian business decision makers well prepared for change, according to a report released on Thursday by Blue Prism.
“Automate or Stagnate: The Impact of Intelligent Automation on the Future of Work” found that 88 per cent of Australian knowledge workers have had daily tasks automated (compared to 78 per cent globally).
The report found that 81 per cent are comfortable with reskilling in order to work alongside the digital workforce, while a further 82 per cent of knowledge workers say they’re ready to take on a new job role, contrary to popular belief that employees are afraid of losing their jobs to automation. Just 40 per cent of knowledge workers feared about job loss the report found.
A new wave of economics, driven by automation and Artificial Intelligence, is emerging across the globe,” says Chris Bradshaw, Blue Prism’s chief marketing officer.
“This technology is disruptive, in the most positive sense. It is changing how organisations view themselves, how they operate and how the people that drive them, live and work. As we enter a new era of connected-RPA, this technology will open doors for the most digitally savvy employees to create and innovate. This is the first technological revolution to place the human at the heart of the creative value chain which is why it has such exponential potential. Blue Prism will deliver a roadmap for how businesses can transform economic output, with AI and RPA at the heart of that change.”
Almost one third of Australian knowledge workers (32 per cent) don’t believe their businesses can remain competitive in the next five years with a purely human workforce. This, alongside time-saving, cost-saving and improved accuracy benefits that automation offers, could be amongst the reasons why 93 per cent of Australian business decision makers surveyed plan to extend use cases of automation across their businesses.
The report is based on research conducted with nearly 5,000 respondents globally.
