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 and relieve the pressures they are under. This is one of the findings of the latest research[ii] from Epicor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth.
According to the research, which questioned around 2,500 business respondents in 14 countries, staffare aware of the many benefits of working alongside robots? Over half (54%) say robots automate repetitive or mundane work that they would otherwise have to do themselves, and 34 percent agrees that robots are more efficient than humans in the workplace.
It’s not just their efficiency that makes robots attractive co-workers; a quarter (27%) cited the fact that robots do not get involved in office politics as a benefit of working with machines.
To find 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%) of businesses are currently able to attract recruits with the right knowledge. The use of robots can introduce efficiencies where human resource is low, and they can also encourage young talent into industry—with 33 percent of millennials wanting to work at the cutting edge of new developments.
