There is a healthy distrust of widespread automation. Technology may eliminate many jobs, and this can look like an uncertain future.
But automation was always meant to improve our lives. Technological idealists look to machines to make all industries more productive whilst simultaneously cutting down the financial, ecological, and human costs of labor.
Climate change is a great risk to all of us, with rising temperatures, mass migration, and shortages of basic human needs like food and water. The physical and mental toll of work is also under scrutiny.
As our awareness grows, businesses will play a key role in tackling the future crises threatening the planet. And in this article, we’ll discuss how.
8 Benefits of Workplace Automation on Employers, Employees, and the Environment
1. Going Paperless
Going paperless is the first thing that comes to mind when considering the impact of business on the environment. And for good reason!
Businesses go through reams of paper for records, receipts, business cards, and so much more. Paper has become an intrinsic part of our working lives.
But automation can change that.
Here are a few ways that automation can cut down on your paper usage:
- Digital business cards: Most business cards are discarded. QR code business cards are a great way to share your company information without creating waste.
- Digital record keeping: Automating record storage uses less paper and physical storage and requires less rifling through records to get the information you need.
- Phone and fax records: Rather than printing out any fax you receive, hosted business phone systems allow you to automatically send every received fax to email. They can also maintain detailed records of your phone calls.
- Digital accounting: Accounting software or invoicing software can digitize your bookkeeping and invoicing. No more flipping through hundreds or thousands of paper receipts and invoices.
Going paperless not only helps the environment but it also offers better workplace organization and efficiency.
2. Remote Work
Remote work has been a growing trend for a while, but the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed that trend into a movement. Remote working technology has successfully smoothed the transition from on-site work to remote and hybrid work.
The mass migration to remote work had a huge positive impact on the environment. In 2020, US CO2 emissions fell across every sector due to stay-at-home orders.
Image sourced from eia.gov
Obviously, we can’t recreate those circumstances again completely—and nor would we want to! But we can make a hypothesis based on statistics.
Transportation accounts for 29% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, with over half of that being light-duty vehicles like those used for personal use. Overall, the stats point to the hypothesis that less commuting = less emissions.
As for employee benefits, remote and hybrid work offers a better work-life balance. Employees are happier and more productive, and employers benefit from this.
3. Health and Safety
Workplaces can be dangerous. According to the US Bureau of Labor, the industries with the highest injury rates are:
- Health and social care.
- Retail trade
- Accommodation and food services
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Transportation and warehousing
Not all jobs can be automated, but automation can assist with dangerous tasks in many of these high-risk jobs.
Let’s look at an example. Quarrying is one of the most dangerous sectors in the world. A lot of quarry work is automated to keep fragile human bodies at a safe distance from dangerous equipment, big rocks, and bigger explosions.
But one job often requires human intervention: clearing stuck jaw crushers. Rocks are fed into jaw crushers to be crushed into smaller particles, but sometimes these can get stuck. A person has to release the stuck rock by the time-honored tradition of hitting things with large tools.
This is, obviously, extremely dangerous—often resulting in fatalities. However, automated machines for this purpose have drastically improved worker health and safety and saved employers money on workplace insurance.
This is only one example of how automation can improve workplace health and safety. All employees should feel safe going to work, and it can reduce the need for injury case management and strategies.
4. Shorter Work Weeks and Reduced Workloads
Since automation cuts down on many repetitive but necessary tasks, employees can spend less time on-site. The reality of a shorter working week is getting closer.
Less time on-site means fewer people commuting overall, which has a positive impact on the environment. It also means a better work-life balance for employees, creating a better working environment for everyone.
Automation can also reduce the overall workload by taking care of simple tasks allowing your employees to focus their efforts on more important tasks.
For example, in a small business without a full-time receptionist, an automated call distribution system can direct customers and clients to the right person and save your staff from having to answer and divert phone calls. Or automation in accounting can massively reduce the amount of time spent on manual data entry.
Automation can also benefit job applicants by streamlining the CV creation process through an AI resume builder,allowing them to create resumes more efficiently and effectively. This tool automates the process and provides guidance, assisting individuals in highlighting their skills and qualifications in a professional manner, ultimately enhancing their chances of securing job interviews.
Free-to-use image sourced from Pixabay
5. Logistics
Technology is great at analyzing data and calculating results.
Using automation to work out transport and delivery routes can create more efficient routes, eliminating back and forth and cutting gas-guzzling and CO2 emissions. Automation can also cut down on how much waste we produce by calculating things like how much material is needed to create something and how much stock a supplier should order to meet demand.
6. Increased Productivity
Automation typically assumes more repetitive, monotonous tasks. These kinds of tasks can drain a worker’s productivity and energy.
Freeing up workers’ time from tedious tasks leaves more room for creativity, productivity, and efficiency.
For employers, productivity is everything. If a machine can double or triple the output of a dozen humans, businesses can save a lot of money. Machines also don’t need breaks and can work indefinitely so long as they’re well-maintained. Tasks like workforce management in call center can be automated and streamlined.
7. Better Precision
Industries like food, drug, and chemical manufacturing require precision. Historically, we’ve relied on highly-skilled employees to measure precise quantities of materials. But human beings can make mistakes, mixing up materials or getting dosages wrong.
Well-programmed machines, however, are far less likely to make these mistakes. With goods like drugs or chemicals, this is vital to people’s health and safety. For food production, mixing up ingredients can lead to allergic reactions, contamination, or religious concerns.
Better precision can also cut down on environmental waste, which is good for the environment and good for your business.
Free-to-use image sourced from Pixabay
8. A More Holistic Approach
It might seem idealistic, increases in employee happiness and employer productivity can have a huge overall effect on the environment.
We encourage people to recycle, shop sustainably, and commute responsibly. But these things take time, money, and effort.
When people are stressed out, spending long hours at work, concerned about workplace safety, and endlessly commuting, it can be difficult to think beyond getting enough sleep and nutrition to survive the working week.
Better work-life balance for employees and increased employer productivity give everyone more time and energy to care beyond their immediate survival.
We can shop locally with environmentally-responsible companies. We can take the time to cook with sustainably-sourced foods. We have time to separate our plastics. We can reduce our commute time and maybe even walk or cycle.
