Over a quarter of SME employees in Australia fear a lack of job prospects in the future

Sydney, New South Wales Mar 10, 2022 (Issuewire.com) – GetApp, the leading app comparison website for small businesses, revealed the results of a recent survey which found that over a quarter of SME employees (26%) think we will see a lack of jobs in the future due to the introduction of automation processes.

Whilst some workers may worry that robots are going to take their jobs, automation presents an opportunity for employees to digitally upskill and learn to work to utilise AI and smart machines.

Nearly a quarter of survey respondents (23%) are nervous and worried about automation, which may be because they don’t recognise the benefits of digitisation in the workplace. Rather than assuming this would result in job losses, many of the most mundane and repetitive tasks can be taken care of without human input, meaning employees can focus on high-value tasks instead.

Promisingly, 77% of survey respondents think that employers should be training staff within their current company to advance and gain extra digital skills; such as coding, cloud computing, or the use of AR/VR for customer services.

These results are part of GetApp’s most recent two-part study analysing how Australian businesses have been upskilling and reskilling their employees, as well as the opinions of employees around job automation and the future of work.

“As job automation increases, some employees may worry about their future work prospects,” says Laura Burgess, Content Analyst at GetApp. “However, workers who develop their digital skillset are likely to be prepared and better-equipped for new jobs created as a result of automation.”

To read the full article from GetApp Australia, visit: https://www.getapp.com.au/blog/2576/future-of-automation-and-digital-skills-in-australia

Survey methodology:

Data for the Employee Upskilling and Job Automation Australia Survey 2021 was collected in October 2021. The sample comes from an online survey of 929 respondents who live in Australia. The respondents were of the age groups 18 to 25 years, 26 to 34 years, 35 to 49 years, 50 to 64 years, and 65 and above years. The respondents were employed full- or part-time and worked at a company with between 2 to 250 employees.

About GetApp:

GetApp is the recommendation engine small businesses need to make the right software choice. GetApp enables SMBs to achieve their mission by delivering the tailored, data-driven recommendations and insights needed to make informed software purchasing decisions. For more information, visit getapp.com.au.