Is technology affecting employee outlook within the UK?

As businesses focus on the latest technology and innovations, employee outlook shows people worried about the ‘rise of the machines’ affecting their role. As we move towards a more flexible, agile and technologically dependant world of work, the new CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook Report has found almost a quarter of employees fear their jobs will become automated.

The Spring 2017 Report shows nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of employees are concerned that at least part of their job could soon be automated. Of those who were worried about losing their job to a machine, almost half (49 per cent) thought parts of their roles would be automated within the next five years, and 8 per cent believed it would happen within the next year.

The CIPD report discovered that the increase in workplace technology was affecting staff in other ways too. Around a third (32 per cent) of the 2,224 employees surveyed felt having remote working options meant they could not switch off in their personal time, while nearly a fifth (18 per cent) said the constant connection to the office made them feel as if they were under surveillance.

On a more positive note, 30 per cent of those surveyed said having remote access to the workplace made them feel empowered, 53 per cent said it helped them work flexibly and 37 per cent said it made them more productive.As always, we are incredibly proud of the relationships we have built. The CIPD and Halogen relationship has been running since 2013.

See further information on our work with the CIPD and the partnerships we have built across their research programmes.