As employers struggle to find people with the skills they need, even for entry-level jobs, robotic co-workers could soon be plugging the industry-wide skills gap. A major benefit: they boost efficiency and don’t get involved in office politics, according to a new study by Epicor Software Corporation, which is into enterprise software.
An emerging generation of robots promises to transform manufacturing. The interplay of human and robotic workers promises flexibility, savings and new competitive capabilities.
“Far from workers worrying about their jobs being taken away by robots, our study shows that employees are actually happy to work alongside machines,” said Terri Hiskey, Vice-President, Product Marketing, Epicor Software Corporation. According to the Epicor research, which interviewed around 2,500 business respondents in 14 countries, most of the staff were aware of the many benefits of working alongside robots. Over half (54 per cent) said robots tend to automate repetitive or mundane work that they would otherwise have to do themselves, with 34 per cent agreeing that robots were more efficient than humans in such tasks.
The combination of robotic sensibilities with the experience and higher dexterity of human workers is a formidable combination. The study pointed out that with employers struggling to find people with the skills they need, even for entry-level jobs, industrial workers are increasingly seeing the benefits of working with robots, rather than humans, to improve productivity.
Moreover, it is not just their efficiency that makes robots attractive co-workers. The study showed that a quarter (27 per cent) cited the fact that robots do not get involved in office politics as a benefit of working with machines.