While Robotic Process Automation is set to grow exponentially, experts urge for employee re-skilling and the adaptation of a scalable RPA technology
Issuing parking or travel tickets or entering data all day, these mind-numbing tasks are best automated. It is a natural technological progression that should leave more creative work to human minds. Coca-Cola uses Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate their HR audit reporting, and the employees take the resulting free time to enhance their customer experience.
RPA has been embraced by companies worldwide, and it was predicted to grow exponentially. Even with the pandemic-led economic depression, Gartner reveals that the market is still steady and expected to reach 2.4 billion in revenue by 2024.
Spotify, Netflix, and Amazon are a few brands that leverage RPA in their business strategies. In a year, Siemens AG automated over 170 processes and over 200,000 working hours, resulting in cost reduction, faster response time, and quality improvement.
But are all business leaders and employees worldwide ready for this massive technological shift? While a McKinsey report suggests that millions of employees will have to reskill themselves, another study indicates that 25 per cent of global data and analytics decision-makers lack the necessary strategy and vision for RPA.
Some industry leaders believe that there are organisational gaps in the global industry, and the disparate utilisation of RPA would not help with a streamlined technological shift in businesses. Experts suggest a centralised and scalable RPA technology within the industry, which will help companies visualise their automation growth.
Over 50 per cent of work done by employees is considered to be monotonous. A Deloitte report predicts that 16 per cent of those jobs will be replaced by RPA technology. This shift in business strategies for a more automotive process and lesser dependency on human workers is a cause of concern for some, but experts ask them to adapt.
It is believed that the only people likely to lose their jobs are the ones who do not take the initiative to learn new skills. Moreover, a Pew Research Centre report states that 52 per cent of their respondents believe that even though several business tasks will be automated by 2025, new job opportunities will exceed the displaced jobs.
Some new job titles that have already entered the market include RPA developers, RPA business analysts, and RPA process architects. Currently dominating the RPA market are three popular companies – Automation Anywhere, UIPath, and Blue Prism. There are several other RPA companies in the market. One can also master the required skills and build their RPA product. A simple RPA bot that can automate data extraction is a good start.
While RPA will certainly streamline organisations’ mundane tasks, it will also leave little room for errors. Experts believe that as RPA will continue to evolve in optimising digital processes, business leaders must be ready to incorporate the changes and adjust their business strategies accordingly.
