[February 20, 2018] |
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Majority of Employees Worldwide Think Artificial Intelligence Can Make Work Better
According to a global survey of nearly 3,000 employees across eight
nations conducted by The
Workforce Institute at Kronos
Incorporated, four out of five employees surveyed see significant
opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more engaging
and empowering workplace experience, yet admit a lack of transparency
from their employers is a primary driver of fear and concern.
The Engaging Opportunity: Working Smarter with AI survey
conducted with Coleman Parkes Research explores how employees - both
hourly and salaried from a variety of industries in Australia, Canada,
France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. -
believe emerging technologies should be used to improve the future of
work.
News Facts
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Hey HAL, can you help me? Employees around the world will embrace
AI to make work easier and fairer
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Employees from all eight nations would welcome AI if it simplified
or automated time-consuming internal processes (64 percent),
helped better balance their workload (64 percent), increased
fairness in subjective decisions (62 percent), or ensured managers
made better choices affecting individual employees (57 percent).
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Workers in Mexico are most enthusiastic about AI's benefits while
Canadian and U.S. employees are also ready to welcome the
technology. Four out of every five survey respondents from Mexico
felt AI would simplify time-consuming processes (81
percent/Mexico, 65 percent/Canada, 62 percent/U.S.) and better
balance their workload (84 percent/Mexico, 64 percent/U.S., 61
percent/Canada).
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The two countries where employees are least likely to embrace AI:
France and Germany.
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Fear of the unknown: Lack of communication leaves employees feeling
apprehensive
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According to the survey, three out of every five organizations (58
percent) internationally have yet to discuss the potential impact
of AI on their workforce with employees. However, two-thirds of
global employees (61 percent) say they'd feel more comfortable if
employers were more transparent about what the future may hold.
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The U.S. is the most secretive, with 67 percent of employees
reporting they have no knowledge of their organization's plans for
AI. Employees in Canada (66 percent) and the United Kingdom (62
percent) are similarly in the dark. More than two-thirds (67
percent) of employees in Mexico say their organization has openly
discussed AI with employees.
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Some U.S. industries are more transparent than others.
Organizations in financial services/banking (38 percent),
manufacturing (35 percent), and logistics/transportation (27
percent) are already discussing AI's future impact on the
workforce with employees.
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In Canada, a similar finding: 37 percent of financial services
organizations, 33 percent of manufacturing industries, 27 percent
of logistics/transportation organizations have discussed the topic
openly.
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The generation1 gap: Gen Z and Baby Boomers have
very different opinions
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Globally, 88 percent of Gen Z employees believe AI can improve
their job in some manner. However, just 70 percent of Baby Boomers
feel the same way.
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In the U.S., Gen Z sees the biggest benefit of AI as its ability
to create an overall fairer working environment (48 percent).
Canadian Gen Z employees hope it will bring more fairness to
performance reviews (50 percent).
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Younger millennials, older millennials, and Gen X employees in
both countries think the biggest benefit of AI for them is
elimination of manual processes and time wasted on basic,
administrative work, each of which detracts from more rewarding
workplace activities.
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When it comes to Baby Boomers working in the U.S., 38 percent
either don't think or aren't sure how AI would improve their job.
Cautious optimism: Employees hope AI will improve, not replace,
their role
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While four out of five employees (82 percent) see opportunity for
AI to improve their jobs, about a third (34 percent) expressed
concern that AI could someday replace them altogether, including
42 percent of Gen Z employees.
Supporting Quotes
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Joyce Maroney, executive director, The Workforce Institute at Kronos (News - Alert)
"Organizations
are making significant investments in benefits, technology, and
innovative workplaces, yet employees are working more than ever and
engagement has remained stagnant for decades. While emerging
technologies always generate uncertainty, this survey shows employees
worldwide share a cautious optimism that artificial intelligence is a
promising tool that could pave the way for a game-changing employee
experience if it is used to add fairness and eliminate low-value
workplace processes and tasks, allowing employees to focus on the
parts of their roles that really matter."
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Ian Parkes, director, Coleman Parkes Research
"Large,
mid-market, and even small businesses are preparing to implement AI
technology but to be truly successful the implementation must embrace
the workforce in an open and transparent way. AI will have a positive
impact providing fairer management and increased workforce flexibility
and productivity. Fear is down to the unknown and better communication
will allow the undoubted benefits of AI to be maximized across an
organization."
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David Creelman, CEO, Creelman Research
"The advent of
artificial intelligence should, on the whole, be a very good thing;
many jobs will change dramatically and employees will be presented
with new opportunities to learn new skills. Individuals who
proactively embrace the change will experience more of the upside. It
is important for employees to pay attention to what is happening and
adapt to, rather than avoid, the adoption of this technology."
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Christian Kromme, entrepreneur and futurist speaker
"I
believe that in the near future every job, routine, or task that is in
any way boring or not worthy of our attention will almost certainly be
automated by artificial intelligence and robotics. At the same time, I
believe that AI will augment and amplify human capabilities. AI will
make us more intelligent, more productive and even more creative. As a
result, AI will advance humanity toward a more meaningful future with
meaningful jobs."
Supporting Resources
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Note to editors: Please refer to this research as the "Engaging
Opportunity: Working Smarter with AI" survey by The Workforce
Institute at Kronos Incorporated.
-
Register
to attend the webinar "Employee Experience Falling Short of
Expectations: The Perception Gap You Can't Afford to Ignore" with
Kronos and SHRM on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
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Connect with Kronos via Facebook,
Twitter,
LinkedIn,
Instagram,
and YouTube.
About The Workforce Institute at Kronos
The Workforce Institute at Kronos provides research and education on
critical workplace issues facing organizations around the globe. By
bringing together thought leaders, The Workforce Institute at Kronos is
uniquely positioned to empower organizations with the knowledge and
information they need to manage their workforce effectively and provide
a voice for employees on important workplace issues. A hallmark of The
Workforce Institute's research is balancing the needs and desires of
diverse employee populations with the needs of organizations. For
additional information, visit www.workforceinstitute.org.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is a leading provider of workforce management and human capital
management cloud solutions. Kronos industry-centric workforce
applications are purpose-built for businesses, healthcare providers,
educational institutions, and government agencies of all sizes. Tens of
thousands of organizations - including half of the Fortune 1000®
- and more than 40 million people in over 100 countries use Kronos every
day. Visit www.kronos.com.
Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works.
Footnote 1: Generations are defined as follows: Gen Z, 18-20; Young
Millennials, 21-27; Older Millennials, 28-37; Gen X, 38-54; Baby
Boomers, 55+
Survey Methodology
Research conducted on behalf of Kronos Incorporated by Coleman Parkes
Research, an independent U.K.-based research company. Survey data was
collected between Nov. 2017 and Jan. 2018 from 2,807 employees using an
online quantitative methodology. Survey participants were sourced from
eight different markets, including the Australia, Canada (English and
French-speaking), France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the United
Kingdom, and the U.S. Survey participants included both hourly and
salaried employees from organizations of all sizes across a variety of
industries. For further questions about survey methodology, contact [email protected].
© 2018 Kronos Incorporated. All rights reserved. Kronos and the Kronos
logo are registered trademarks and Workforce Innovation That Works is a
trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. See a complete
list of Kronos
trademarks. All other trademarks, if any, are property of their
respective owners.
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