Automation and HR job security

Automation has been proven to refine the way businesses operate. For example, many Human Resources (HR) companies have seen huge improvements as a result of automating their processes? Both the cost of administrative processes and the time spent on administrative work can be reduced as a result of automation, dramatically increasing productivity.

Many people remain sceptical about segmenting automation in the workplace, fearing that it may lead to high levels of staff redundancy. Economic Voice recently expressed their views on automation and job security, stating that “HR departments around the globe are faced with growing concern over automation in terms of job security.”

According to the article, introducing state of the art software creates a simpler way to efficiently accomplish tasks such as recruitment, payroll and processing annual leave, therefore reducing the amount of staff required to complete the workload.

However, according to thisismoney.co.uk, HR managers need not be concerned about job security as the profession made onto a list of jobs least at risk of being replaced by robots’, with a probability of just 0.0055 of being replaced.

But with the workload of HR employees continuing to increase steadily year by year, and data becoming more central to the profession’s role in many organisations, automation is being seen by many as part of the answer to more efficient, effective HR departments.

As automation is segmented into the workplace, the risk of redundancy is not imminent; HR roles are simply evolving to fit into a world of more ‘tech savvy’ businesses. HR departments will become more productive as technology allows them to complete general tasks more quickly and efficiently, allowing businesses to improve their workload and spend more time on staff development.

There will always be a need for humans, not only to oversee automated software, but also to offer an element of interaction on those tasks which a machine simply cannot complete. Yet.

With technology becoming increasingly intuitive, HR will continue to evolve alongside automated systems, ultimately changing the future of HR.