Personnel Service: 51% of companies in Poland are ready to implement automation

by   CIJ News iDesk III
2023-01-31   11:21
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Half (51%) of companies in Poland are ready to implement modern technologies, and 28% are currently undertaking automation activities. Mainly large companies decide to do so, while the rest are waiting for a better moment. At the same time, one in three entrepreneurs admit that due to the difficult and uncertain macroeconomic environment, automation-related activities are on hold, according to Personnel Service's "Polish Labor Market Barometer."

"The pandemic was expected to provide a boost to companies' automation activities. Experts indicated that this was the time that could be a breakthrough, as businesses would want to reduce the risks associated with, among other things, high employee absenteeism. However, this did not happen, fear of an uncertain tomorrow and the desire to save money prevailed, hence automation did not accelerate as expected. The current inhibiting factor for companies is the difficult macroeconomic environment, including inflation, weaker consumer sentiment or rising business costs, among others. However, companies are ready for automation, and this means that high-tech business activities will accelerate as soon as the situation stabilizes," said labor market expert and Personnel Service founder Krzysztof Inglot.

Personnel Service's latest "Polish Labor Market Barometer" shows that 51% of companies are ready for modern technologies. A definite lack of readiness to implement automation is indicated by 15% of entrepreneurs, and one in five declares that they are rather not ready for such a step, it stressed.

Specific automation measures are currently being implemented at 28% of companies. These are mainly large companies, with 41% indicating that automation is already happening at their company, compared to 28% of medium-sized companies and only 16% of small companies. In addition, one in five employers is planning automation activities in the near future, while 17% have no plans for now, but do not rule it out. There are 23% skeptics of automation - these are companies that are not currently implementing and do not plan to implement automation in the future.

The actions of companies that are not implementing automation, but plan to do so in the near or distant future, are influenced by the current socio-economic situation. Already one in three entrepreneurs admits that automation activities are on hold due to the difficult and uncertain macroeconomic environment. This is especially true for medium-sized companies with 50 to 249 employees - 42% of them have put their automation activities on hold, compared to 31% of large companies and 29% of small companies. This also varies by industry. The suspension of automation work due to the difficult socio-economic situation is indicated mainly by entrepreneurs in the manufacturing (51%) and construction (45%) sectors, it was reported.

Half of the companies agree with the statement that automation or robotization introduced in the company will reduce employment levels. This is almost the same percentage as in the previous survey, when 51% of entrepreneurs answered yes. Significantly, the size of the company does not matter - in small companies 48% agree with such a statement, in medium ones 55%, and in large ones 47%.

The survey of employees and employers in Poland was conducted on a nationwide Ariadna survey panel using the CAWI (Camputer-Assister Web Interview) method. The survey was conducted from October 11-17, 2022.

Source: Personnel Service and ISBnews