There was once a time when robots were known only in manufacturing businesses. Today, robots are a part of several workplaces, and the future looks very promising for this incredible phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI). Most people fear that full automation or robots may eventually take their jobs. However, this is far from the truth.
Robots tend to bring more advantages than disadvantages to a workplace. They significantly enrich an organization’s ability to thrive and succeed while enhancing and adding ease to the lives of real-life human workers, who still have a crucial role in preventing things from going haywire and keeping the operations and work processes running smoothly.
Just the idea of robots doing an array of managers’ tasks, such as making better decisions, using data to evaluate problems, setting goals, and monitoring team performance, sounds fascinating. In this guide, we take a look at what wonders this new technology has to offer, why it is worth investing in, and talk about 5 ways how your business would benefit from a robot for hire .
How Robots Are Changing the Workplace
Over the last few years, robots or AI technology has developed rapidly. As robotics tend to become more innovative and acquire new abilities, thanks to the progress in machine learning, many organizations are jumping on the bandwagon evermore.
As a matter of fact, the latest research by Narrative Science reveals that almost 61% of companies have implemented at least some form of artificial intelligence. This trend is projected to continue, and shortly, every contemporary company will implement some kind of AI within their business.
Technology is playing a vital role in helping human employees work more productively. Since automation has become such a significant part of business processes and operations, it can be predicted that robots might soon replace several jobs that human employees are performing today.
Moreover, now that the business world is on the cusp of making its way into the computerized age, it’s worth seeing what wonders this new technology holds. However, you can rest assured that robots are not coming at you for your jobs.
A new survey-based study enlightens how the integration of robots and automation is reshaping the entire workplace in the most unforeseen ways. In addition to improving quality and efficiency and cutting down high labor costs, robots are significantly helping create more jobs for their human counterparts.
The researchers claimed that the study analyzed 5 years’ worth of data of companies in the Canadian economy, making it the most all-inclusive study of its kind on how automation affects strategic priorities, labor, employment, and various other aspects of the workplace.
More robots, more workers
As opposed to popular belief, robots are surely not replacing workers. While it is true there is a certain level of shedding of employees that follows when an organization decides to adopt robots, data shows that a greater extent of automation results in greater hiring in general.
This is primarily because robot-adopting companies become significantly more efficient and productive and require more workers to meet the increased demand in production. Any employment loss in the data the researchers came across in this study came from the companies that did not adopt automation.
Compared to the adopters of robots and automation, the non-adopting firms became less productive. They even lost hold of their competitive advantage and consequently had to lay off many workers. Companies must consider a bigger-picture strategy when bringing in robots within the workplace.
Ultimately, it all comes down to choosing how you leverage technology in a better way to become more productive and how you change your managerial business practices to derive the most out of this new technology.
Why You Should Hire Robots
The concept of robot workers has been looming over the world of employment for quite a while now. Hence, it was quite inevitable that the large companies would be the first ones to take the fall. Moreover, the first wave of robots has just reached around the corner, but whether they can/will replace the human workers is a question that still needs to be answered.
Walmart, Foxconn, and the United States Department of Defense are some of the big names that are already halfway in the process of hiring robots. Other companies, including China’s National Petroleum Corporation, the Indian Railways, the UK National Health Service, and McDonald’s, have also suggested they’ll follow suit.
The list of advantages of robots is pretty long. The use of robots in the factories and workplace indicates production will be faster and more efficient. Unlike human workers, robots don’t need to sleep, take breaks, take sick leaves, or go on holiday. This increased productivity and efficiency results in higher output, and ultimately, higher revenues and profits.
Many people misunderstand robots for taking away human jobs, but it is not really true. Instead, they have created plenty of new jobs for workers, especially those who were once assigned on production lines with programming. In addition, robots have pulled out workers from the dreary, monotonous, repetitive, and mundane jobs and put them in more challenging ones.
They also enable the US companies to stay competitive, keeping jobs local. Robots are intelligent, user-friendly, and affordable. The benefits of robots continue to escalate as more companies and industries decide to incorporate them.
Does not compute
In terms of safety and health, the presence of robots in the factory and office also indicates a safer and well-protected environment for human workers and less risk for employers.
Robots can perform the more dangerous, hazardous, and life-threatening jobs with much more ease. This indicates that insurance restrictions do not have to be so rigid. It is also less expensive to employ robots in the long term.
In an interview with Fox , the former McDonald's US Chief Executive Officer, Ed Rensi, stated, “If you take a look at the robotic devices coming into the restaurant industry, it is much more cheaper to purchase a robotic arm worth $35,000 than it is to hire an inefficient worker, who just make $15/hour bagging fries.”
However, this profit is only beneficial for businesses that can afford the high start-up costs of robotic equipment, i.e., the large organizations with a solid financial budget.
Programmed to serve
The industrial impact and societal benefits of automated systems are vast. For instance, the UN Economic Commission for Europe predicts that the universal market for automated systems will surpass $51 billion four years from now by 2025.
University of Westminster’s Dr. Alexander Bolotov states that he believes the possibility of robots taking over employment depends on several factors, and all of them must be considered.
For instance, “What kind of jobs will be considered? What kind of automated systems will they be considering here – will it somehow interfere with human activities? How much social interaction will be involved?”
There isn’t going to be a simple answer for all this since it can be incredibly challenging to draw a line where the impact of robotics on our lives could become obvious.
To fully understand a world where most of the work can be done by robots, it is first essential to differentiate the types of robots already in use. Robots are categorized based on their autonomy levels: some are designed to act independently, while some are pre-programmed.
The nature of both robotic systems is quite different. They’ll have a different effect on the industrial applications within the society. The first sort of self-functioning robot provides refined capacities like natural language understanding or visual abilities. You can use these kinds of robots to communicate with patients and customers.
Autonomous robots are even more sophisticated and are designed to act fittingly and make their own decisions. These robots are already existent and are used in more complex settings where independent behavior is needed.
Indeed, robots are beneficial to industries by their nature. They bring in many benefits, such as minimizing the time of task completion, increasing precision where it is required, and cutting down losses associated with the nature of human workers.
Ultimately, it appears as if businesses are all set to invest in robots and automated systems, given they have the start-up funds. However, it is also true that society still needs to come to equal terms with the prospect of this new technology and adapt to a world of working together with robots.
5 Ways Your Business Can Benefit From a Robot for Hire
If you are seriously thinking of investing in robots, you must absolutely share the many advantages they bring with your employees. You'll actually be surprised to see how many of your workers will be quick on supporting this idea. Having said that, here are 5 ways your business would benefit from a robot for hire .
Increased Safety
Most employers are quick to state that worker safety is one of their top concerns and priority. The number of workplace safety occurrences can ultimately make or break your company’s reputation. Fortunately, safety is one of the most significant advantages of utilizing automation.
Heavy machinery, sharp objects, and machinery that run at hot temperatures can cause accidents or injuries to human workers. By allotting these life-threatening and dangerous tasks to robots, there will be a greater chance for you to look at repair bills instead of a severe lawsuit or never-ending medical bill.
Workers who take up such dangerous options will be profoundly thankful that automated systems and robots can alleviate their risks to a great extent.
Better Speed and Consistency
Unlike human beings, robots do not get distracted by things or require breaks in between. They also do not make any requests for vacation times or ask to leave early. No matter how much they work, robots won’t feel exhausted or start functioning slower. Moreover, you do not need to provide the training sessions or invite them over to employee meetings.
Put merely, a robot can work endlessly, day and night, around the clock. This ultimately hastens the production levels while keeping your employees from tiring and overworking themselves to meet the seemingly impossible standards and intense-pressure deadlines.
The best thing about working with robots and automated systems is that they never face the need to divide their attention between multiple things. Robots are multi-functioning, and so their tasks are never dependent on the work of others. They won’t have any unforeseen emergencies, nor do they require being relocated to more time-sensitive tasks.
Robots will always be present, doing what they are supposed to do. Hence, with automation comes consistency, which makes it way more reliable than human labor.
Cost Minimization
Using robots in your business lets you minimize unnecessary costs and difficulties associated with hiring workers and managing them.
As a business owner, you no longer need to keep meddling around or working your mind out with employees needing to take days off work due to personal matters or sickness, which causes a significant delay in tasks, orders, and hampers your workforce productivity.
They can minimize the amount of wasted material used, thanks to their accuracy. Moreover, despite the high initial investment, robots can save your company a great deal of money in the long run with a fast return on investment and lesser worker injuries while using fewer materials.
Happier and Satisfied Employees
Since robots are typically designated to perform tasks that human workers do not particularly enjoy doing, such as repetitive and predictive motion, mundane tasks, menial work, and/or dangerous jobs, your workers will most likely be happier, satisfied, and more content.
Instead of focusing on tasks that drain them, they will be more focused on engaging in work that is less likely to torment them. They might want to take advantage of the numerous educational opportunities, participate in a unique and innovative project or utilize the employee wellness program.
Suffice to say, they will be relieved and happy to let the robots do all the routine and repetitive tasks that leave them feeling worn out.
Enhanced Productivity and Efficiency
One thing is for sure: robots simply cannot do everything. Some tasks require human intervention and thinking to be completed. If human workers are not caught up in doing things that could’ve been left for robots, they will be a lot more productive and available.
They can answer important emails, respond to comments on social media platforms, talk to customers and engage them, sell products, and help with marketing and branding. You'll be astonished to see how much human workers can accomplish when all the grunt work that usually weighs them down is well looked after by robots.
Also, robots are bound to deliver quality at all times. Since they are programmed for the utmost precision and repetitive motion, there are hardly any chances for robots to make mistakes. Robots are like a quality control system and a worker at the same time.
A lack of accidents, combined with the possible elimination of human error, will indeed produce a perfect product every single time.
Moreover, robots never feed the need to take breaks. They can work 24/7 round the clock, 365 days a year. Generally, a single robot can be equivalent to 2 to 5 full-time working employees, and even more. Robots are able to complete the same volume of work in significantly less time or more volume of work at the same time.
Wrapping Up: Should You Hire Humans Or Robots?
The world is advancing rapidly, and before the end of this century, 70% or more of today’s jobs will likely be replaced by automation. This is an essential factor to keep in mind for both businesses and job hunters.
Companies of all sizes and shapes are pondering whether they should continue hiring humans or make preparations for hiring robots. It is indeed a question of utmost importance that must be addressed sooner than later.
We know for sure now that robots will make a significant impact in practically every niche imaginable – finance, hotels, agriculture, retail, hospitals, airports, warehouses, trucking, and even the military.
The advancement of AI and the rise of robots are slowly making their way into a multi-million dollar niche. You can find arguments both in favor and not in favor of adding robots to the workplace. Still, if you have not given it much thought, now is the right time to do it.
Even though the debate between integrating or not integrating robots within the workplace is never-ending, you should know that there is no wrong or correct answer to it. Probably the best strategy is to blur the lines for your business and look for a happy mix of both robots and human workers in your workplace.
As we all know, some jobs are at a more significant risk of being automated. At the same time, there are plenty of other jobs where it can be incredibly challenging to eliminate the human aspect. Anything in relationships, creativity, sales, or guest service will always call for human touch and personality.
Making the decision between choosing humans or robots for fire requires a lot of thinking and long-term planning. Hence, whatever you decide is bound to have a significant impact on your company’s success.
Though we are still many light years away from experiencing a fully automated workplace, the automated capabilities so many companies are utilizing at present have indeed proven to be a remarkable innovation. It is certainly intriguing to see how robots will ultimately affect the future of the corporate world.