According to a new study commissioned by UiPath (NYSE: PATH), a leading enterprise automation software company, 70% of office workers in India are feeling increased pressure at work due to their colleagues resigning in the past year, the highest in any region. UiPath’s 2022 Office Worker Survey also found that monotonous tasks are amplifying employee unhappiness and uncertainty and that employees would welcome new processes and technologies such as automation to allow them to focus on work that matters.
“Automation is one powerful key to unlocking worker productivity. Employees around the world are incredibly burnt out by having to take on more work due to colleagues resigning and various monotonous tasks. In India, seventy-nine percent of respondents reported that they have had to take up to six new tasks or responsibilities outside of their job description due to coworkers resigning,’’ said Anil Bhasin, Managing Director and Vice President, UiPath — India, and South Asia. “Ninety-nine percent feel automating certain tasks can improve their job performance by saving time, increasing productivity, and creating opportunities to focus on more important work. The way we work must change,” he added.
The third annual UiPath survey of global office workers uncovered the impact that the Great Resignation is having on employees’ roles and responsibilities, career trajectories, and overall experience. The assessment found that:
The Great Resignation is an acute business challenge: Around the world, office workers are feeling increased pressure at work because their colleagues are quitting. The pressure is the highest in India with 70% of workers reporting the same. Alarmingly, 74% of Indian and 68% of global respondents reported that they do not know what their responsibilities are anymore, because things at work have changed so much since their coworkers quit.
Labor shortages and mundane work are causing people to quit: 73% of Indian respondents say they are interested or could be swayed into looking for a new job in the next six months. About two in five (41%) say they are currently applying for another job, or have had interviews with another company in the past six months. Local office workers are motivated to seek a new position due to increased pressure on work/life balance (44%), spending too much time on administrative tasks (37%), and lack of employee recognition (28%).
Expanding roles are compounded by monotonous tasks: 96% of Indian respondents say they feel exhausted at the end of a workday at least one day per week. They are frustrated by tasks like research to improve existing products and services (44%), drafting and responding to emails (43%), creating new products and services (38%) and scheduling calls and meetings (37%).
Office workers believe automation is core to improving their job performance and satisfaction: Consistent with UiPath Global Office Worker Surveys in 2021 and 2020, employees feel like much of their workday is eaten up by tasks that can be automated. 73% of Indian employees agree. Respondents believe that automation can improve their job performance, namely by saving time (62%), increasing productivity (61%), and creating opportunities to focus on more important work (59%).
Automation can help fight the Great Resignation: 91% of Indian respondents contend that incorporating automation—including training on automation—could help their organization attract new and retain existing talent. 86% of respondents in India reported that their organizations offer employees access to AI or automated tools. This is the highest in any region polled. Business leaders are already on board, with 85% of those surveyed in the UiPath 2022 Executive Survey agreeing that incorporating automation and automation training into their organization will help them retain employees and attract new talent.
The 2022 Office Worker Survey polled more than 5,000 office workers across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, India, Australia, and Singapore and was conducted in February 2022.
