Could Automation Replace Humans: The Future Of Work In South Carolina

Do you remember when automation first hit the market? Do you also remember how many people believed it was implausible to think automation would ever become a reality? However, as more businesses and organizations began conducting their own research to uncover the benefits of automation — from greater efficiency and productivity to reduced costs and errors — more questions were asked. Could automation actually put an end to the human workforce that we know? Would automation really start replacing humans?

The impact automation will have on South Carolina’s workforce and the workforce of the future will largely depend on how humans respond. When faced with the potential adoption of automation, workers will likely have more than one option. Some workers may be able to solely focus on the type of work they’ve always done and want to continue to do but will have a chance to be more efficient and productive thanks to automation. Others may view automation as an opportunity to seek other ventures, including improving education or making a career move where there will be more opportunities to showcase their creativity and skillset.

For positions that mainly focus on people, such as customer support positions, there is the potential for organizations to benefit from automation. Workers will no longer have to worry about being burdened with the same tasks down because they can easily be handled by software. Customer support agents will have more time to take on more complex issues that are best handled by humans. Also, the allocation of resources afforded by automation will put customer service agents in a better position to prevent small problems from turning into large problems. This can greatly improve not only customer satisfaction but employee satisfaction.

Is Automation Replacing The Workforce?

The concept of automation in the workforce can come with a variety of benefits to businesses and organizations that want to improve their results, and this can be achieved by making clients happy, which will ultimately lead to an increase in profits. With shifts in technology, there will always be concerns by many about whether automation will eventually replace humans at a rapid pace. Currently, there are estimates that nearly 50 percent of current jobs are at great risk of automation.

So does this mean an automated workforce will become a part of our future in the next decade? Not exactly. Actually, there is a belief that technology is going to help grow the job market, along with making it smarter.

In reality, there are few organizations focusing on using automation to replace humans. In the case of many organizations, there is a greater focus on automating specific tasks. Organizations are hoping that efforts to automate specific tasks will eventually lead to improved productivity and efficiency, as well as streamlining tasks, eliminating mistakes, and reducing costs. Businesses and organizations that want to implement automation are not doing this because they want to replace humans, but they are doing so to make work a little easier for human workers. Eventually, there will be benefits for everyone– from employees and executives to customers and hopefully the business or organization’s bottom line.

Empowering The Workforce Through Automation

Airbnb, the well-known and popular startup known for giving homeowners the opportunity to rent their homes to travelers is one of the best examples of how employees can be empowered through automation. According to an article by BMI (Business Models Inc), “Airbnb is currently developing a new AI system that will empower its designers and product engineers to literally take ideas from the drawing board and turn them into actual products almost instantaneously.”

How can this empower a workforce? Automation will allow businesses and organizations to make better predictions and understand how customers behave and why they behave the way they do. However, this cannot happen without teams that are skilled and knowledgeable enough to improve their skills with the latest forms of technology.

As with any major disruptions, new and improved technologies may lead to some losses in some industries. However, this changing landscape can also result in the creation of new jobs that will require a specific skillset. We are living and working in a world where everything is, there will be certain skills related to technology and cybersecurity that will continue to be in demand in order to overcome the rising increase in cyber threats and cyberattacks.

Should Workers Be Concerned?

Throughout the course of history, technology has paved the way for human advancement and created changes that still impact the way we live and work. Technology has created jobs that many people thought would never exist, and this will continue to happen for more decades.

However, humans should not be overly concerned with automation. The availability of automation will complement than workforce, rather than replace the workforce. Computers did not completely replace the human workforce and automation won’t either. Like computers, automation will continue to pave the way for new and better roles for the human workforce.

While it is understandable for workers to be concerned about automation and how it will impact their jobs, it is important for employees and leaders to understand that technology implementation does not have to mean jobs will be taken away, it could mean that technology is being implemented to help businesses and organizations improve by making daily tasks a little easier.

Do you still have concerns about automation and what value (if any) this can bring to your South Carolina business or organization? As technology leaders, Servcom USA can help.

At Servcom USA, we understand that the center of any business or organization includes employees, customers, clients, and the relationships and partnerships that have been formed over the years. This is why we have designed our solutions and services to help businesses and organizations engage with customers, grow their operations, and empower their employees — not replace them with automation.

Contact us today to speak with one of our IT solutions experts. Call us at (803) 619-1414 or complete our online form to have one of our experts call you.