Not that long ago, the alarm bells were being sounded with regard to automation and the detrimental impact it would have on the workforce. The expectation was that by investing in automation technologies, productivity gains would result in cost savings due to a reduction in employees. But even though the analysis seemed sound at the time – even compelling – the forecast of massive job losses failed to materialize. Let’s take a look at some of the dynamics that played into softening that prediction.
It’s a fact. Job descriptions can be vastly over-simplified – especially at the occupation level, which tends to be significantly impacted by automation. So, although it was initially predicted that automation would reduce the US workforce, what was not considered was the fact that higher-salary jobs with complex skills are increasingly difficult to replace, in addition to the fact that there has been significant growth of managerial positions.
Another impactful variable in the automation equation is that industries experiencing strong growth are much less likely to lay off workers. For example, although the wholesale industry – which was negatively impacted by the rise of B2C e-commerce – had big job losses, other industries did undergo impressive growth and actually expanded their workforce.
In addition, services industries are increasing their market share, and are looking to add jobs. Earlier forecasts failed to allow for the growth of demand for services – the US economy has shifted dramatically from goods to services, and this shift is requiring highly skilled personnel. Additionally, the adoption of automation technology was expected to take the business world by storm, but it has been uneven across various industries, which has factored into its failure to produce workforce reduction.
What’s the takeaway? Across all industries, caution should be exercised in expecting new automation technologies such as AI and robotic process automation to make a big impact on the US workforce. Businesses should, however, pay attention to the gains that can be achieved through integrating data automation – the provision of the right data, to the right people, at the right time. And while sorting through all of the information on the pros and cons of automation technology, one fact remains: there has never been a better time to team up with a BPO outsourcing company.
Anexa is an award-winning business process outsourcing (BPO) company with twenty years of experience in the increasingly competitive outsourcing market. Across all your business processes – whether it be omnichannel customer service, back-office and database services, information technology, or marketing, we make it our business to understand your needs, your brand, and your audience.
Anexa agents are experienced, bilingual (English and Spanish) team members that bring a high degree of skill to each and every business process that we undertake. Our customer service teams understand the psychology behind CX, and the critical importance of empowering customers to generate loyalty. They never lose sight of the fact that increasing customer retention rates by even 5% can translate to an increase in profits by 25% to 95%.
When it comes to the various back-office services that tend to be repetitive but time-consuming, our teams can help you automate, improve and grow your business through cost reduction, accessing the newest technologies and turning inputs into actionable results.
Questions? Reach out to Anexa today.