As robotics and advanced automation continue to spread throughout the American workplace, workers express conflicting and sometimes flatly contradictory attitudes about the impact these new technologies will have on their lives.
According to the third annual national study from edtech firm MindEdge/Skye Learning, nearly one-third (32 percent) of American employees report that advanced technology – including robot workers, AI, and analytics – has been introduced into their workplaces in the past year. Of these employees, over three-quarters (76 percent) feel the new automation has made their jobs easier.
Survey respondents do not feel immediately threatened by the arrival of advanced technology: only 25 percent of workers say they are concerned about being replaced by these technologies in 2020, while fully 53 percent say they are not at all concerned. Nor does the level of concern increase significantly when the timeline is moved out: only 29 percent say they are concerned about losing their jobs to technology in the next five years, while almost half (47 percent) say they are not at all concerned.
At the same time, workers also express some clearly negative attitudes about technology in the workplace. A clear majority (55 percent) disagree with the assertion that robots are better workers than humans. And an even stronger majority (57 percent) agrees that “robots and advanced automation are bad for American workers.”
Still, almost half (44 percent) of those who work in newly automated workplaces also report that technology has taken over a portion of their jobs. This figure is even higher among highly educated workers (49 percent among those with a postgraduate degree) and those who work in the technology sector (61 percent).
Opinions are closely divided on the question of whether technology will create more jobs than it displaces with 41 percent believing this will be true, but 47 percent disagreeing. The level of skepticism exceeds a majority among women (52 percent); workers over the age of 39 (51 percent); non-managerial workers (55 percent); and workers in the manufacturing sector (54 percent).
The strong perception that robots and automation “are bad for American workers” is even stronger among workers with only a high-school education (66 percent) and workers in the retail sector (68 percent). Significantly, there is virtually no difference of opinion on this issue between workers at firms that have recently automated (57 percent) and workers at firms that have not recently automated (59 percent).
These negative attitudes stand in stark contrast to the positive sense that technology is improving morale and making workers’ jobs easier. This discrepancy suggests that American workers are still coming to grips with the impact of technology on the workplace, and are not yet able to arrive at a clear-cut consensus on the issue.
“Navigating the impact of robotics, automation, and AI is a pillar of modern business operations that will take time and experience for business leaders and employees to understand,” said Jefferson Flanders, CEO of MindEdge Learning. “American workers are continuing to uncover exactly how they feel about robotics and automation in the workplace. But regardless of how they may feel, technology is inexorably transforming the U.S. workforce – and employers and workers need to prepare for it.”
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