Companies may need fewer employees in future due to automation. Is your job in danger?

In India, it is expected to rise from a current 14 percent to 27 percent is the next three years.

Sambhav Rakyan, Head of Talent and Rewards, Willis Towers Watson India said that automation and the resulting shift in work arrangements will create new challenges that will test employer readiness around technology, future workforce requirements, HR programmes and an enabling organisational structure.

Automation re-shaping the workplace

Workplace automation, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, is expected to double in India in the coming three years according to the survey.

However, the survey revealed that very few companies and HR functions are fully prepared to address the organisational change requirements related to automation, nor the opportunities offered by a larger contingent talent pool.

The survey said that automation is expected to shape a new combination of work, talent, skills requirements and work relationships. While organisations in India expect the percentage of full-time employees to reduce from 85 percent to 78 percent in 3 years’ time, they also anticipate using more contingent and part time workers.

The survey also found that 33 percent companies in India today believe that automation enables a flexible deployment of work to other locations, compared to the APAC average of 39 percent. However in 3 years’ time, a massive 70 percent companies anticipate this automation driven work flexibility as compared to 65 percent in the APAC region.

Services and manufacturing industries to experience greatest impact

The most impact of this shift will be seen in the services industry in India, as outsourcing jobs for specific skills, the use of non-employee talent and robotics becomes the norm.

A majority 55 percent companies in the services industry in India expect to have fewer full-time employees in three years’ time due to automation, as compared to 14 percent currently.

Even though 54 percent of the employers in the services sector realize the need for change in their leaders/ managers approach to manage this workforce shift, only 24 percent are currently prepared to address this change.

On a similar note, the study found that even though 54 percent of the manufacturing sector organisations realise the need for automation to augment performance and productivity, only 1 in 3 organisations are prepared to deal with such a change.

Varied readiness for the changing workplace

Only 12 percent companies in India believe that their HR functions are fully prepared for the changing requirements of automation.

For example, HR is least prepared for identifying re-skilling pathways for talent (43 percent), redesigning jobs and identifying which tasks can best be performed by automation (54 percent).