Survey: Robot Adoption Plans Outpace Workforce Readiness

The use of robotics is approaching a critical crossroads, where the ambition of many companies to roll out the technology is starting to outpace their readiness to implement it.

According to an Intel survey of 800 business and IT leaders, robotics specialists, and government officials, 60% of senior leaders expect their organization to operate a fleet of robots within five years. Two-thirds also said that they're confident their organization will be ready to manage a mixed human-robot workforce by 2030, while three-quarters said that they believe workforce planning and robotics strategy will be inseparable within that period. But despite all that, only 40% currently have a strategy in place to manage a combined human-robot workforce.

"There is a critical disconnect at the heart of the robotics revolution," Intel's report reads. "Leaders have huge ambitions for a future powered by intelligent robotics, but few are prepared for what large-scale deployment actually requires."

The widest gap between confidence and preparedness was found in the defense industry, with a 48% gap between organizations that are confident that they will be ready by 2030, and those that have formal human-robot workforce strategies in place already. The second widest gap was in the smart cities sector at 30%, followed by manufacturing at 26%, retail at 25%, and healthcare at 22%.

Organizations are also continuing to struggle with buy-in from employees, with less than half reporting that the introduction of robotics has made their human workers feel more valued in their roles. Another 41% said that they don't believe that HR leaders are equipped to plan for a workforce that includes robots.

Those challenges extend beyond employee buy-in, with 55% of respondents saying that safety concerns have delayed robotics deployments, while 40% cited shortages in skills and talent as a barrier to scaling the technology. Intel said that closing those gaps in workforce planning, safety standards and technical infrastructure will be critical as companies move from small scale trials to operating larger fleets of robots.