In recent years, we see Indian enterprises beginning to embrace technologies such as Robotic Process Automation, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at scale to address the challenges of the labor shortage, particularly in the finance, healthcare, automobile, and telecommunications sectors. The medical and e-commerce industries took a leap as well, especially during peak periods of the pandemic. 

The Great Resignation has emerged as a defining phenomenon of the pandemic, and businesses across the world are feeling its impact. The pandemic has pushed employees into reconsidering their career priorities, placing greater importance on work-life balance, mental health and meaningful work. Employees in India  are frustrated and exhausted by monotonous and repetitive tasks. Many are experiencing an increased workload, as they take up new tasks and responsibilities outside of their job description, while employers struggle to fill vacant positions. 

According to UiPath’s 2022 Global Office Workers Survey,  70% of office workers in India are experiencing increased pressure at work, brought about by the heightened level of resignations in the past year. This number, in fact, is the highest in all the regions polled. It only goes to show that companies must create an environment that has the right technologies to support their employees alongside mission-driven principles to motivate them.

Limiting the impact of the great resignation

Our survey shows that 74% of respondents are confused about their role with the pile-up of additional duties since their co-workers exited the organization. This has led to added pressure on the employees, with them feeling bogged down by monotonous tasks. For example, about 26% of the respondents spend at least an hour each working day on drafting and responding to routine emails, sending reminders, and follow-ups, and 21% of them spend at least one-hour creating data sets before they step into the actual work. Considering the same, it was not surprising when almost 91% of the respondents agreed that automation will help their organization attract and retain talent, and 71% of respondents agreed that they could focus on more creative work and spend less time on mundane tasks.

Automation technology has not only proven to help solve the challenges caused by the labor shortage, but it can also help businesses solve the workforce gaps that they are experiencing. By deploying automation tools, companies can create a better experience for employees, establishing a supportive work environment. These automation tools also help enterprises identify new opportunities for growth while bringing about improved productivity. A large part of India Inc is experiencing the same. While companies across the world are deploying automation tools and supporting their employees, our survey shows that India stands highest amongst the regions surveyed, with 86%. Employees in these companies are experiencing increased efficiency, better insights into customers, and improved delivery.

The idea is to build a company that employees would want to work for. By providing them with solutions like automation to help improve their productivity, companies will be enabling employees to offer value at a higher level of judgment, emotional intelligence, and thoughtful discretion.

In the past, some of our clients like Quess Corp, a Bangalore-based business services provider, had adopted RPA, and significantly improved pre-payroll, invoicing, and statutory compliance processes without hiring new personnel to manage task heavy administrative workflows. This took away most of the pressure on employees and enabled growth with fewer resources, all without compromising customer experience.

The technology has shown to be effective in addressing the issues posed by staff shortages across the industries we work with and will soon prove to be an effective tool to counter the great resignation. The time is now for employees to be empowered by the potential of automation.