Sykes survey: 73% of Americans interested in working with automation

Sykes recently surveyed working Americans to uncover what they really think about working with robots and how they’re preparing for automation at work.

In early October 2019, Sykes, a leading provider of multichannel demand generation and customer engagement services for Global 2000 companies, surveyed 1,500 employed American adults across the U.S. The company sought to understand how workers are thinking and feeling about the impact of automation at work, their attitudes about working with these new technologies, and how their employers are helping prepare them for the future of work.

The report is based on the survey’s list of 17 questions — ranging from what American workers are doing to stay current in workplace technologies, how their employers are preparing them for the future of work, if their employers are having any open conversations about the impact of automation technologies where they work, and more.

Here’s a quick glimpse at some of the findings:

• 72.53% of US workers say the idea of humans and automation technologies working together interests them.
• 63.27% say they think they could be better at their jobs if they could automate certain tasks.
• Of those who report working in manufacturing or warehousing jobs (165 people), only 6.67% (11 people) report job loss due to automation, just slightly higher than the total respondent answer, 4.93%.
• Of those who report working in manufacturing or warehousing jobs (165 people), 34.55% (57 people) report knowing at least one person who has lost a job due to automation — indicating this group knows people who have faced job loss because of automation more than the average American does.
• American workers overwhelmingly believe that the manufacturing field, followed by telecommunications and transportation, will be most impacted by automation within the next five years.
• 68% of surveyed U.S. workers say they’re more likely to apply to work for a company investing in new automation technologies—and 63% say they think they could be better at their jobs if they were able to automate certain tasks. These are just some of our findings from our recent survey of working adults in the U.S.