It goes without saying that there are a bunch of office tasks that everyone hates. Wouldn't it be great if automation could take those out of our hands once and for all? Here's a new study that has found out which office tasks people hate the most.

Data entry is the most hated computer task according to a new global study commissioned by Automation Anywhere.

Managing email traffic and filing digital documents were the second and third most hated tasks, followed by compiling reports from IT and software systems and invoice management.

More than 10,000 office workers across nearly ten countries were surveyed for this poll, which was conducted by One Poll.

Data reveals that 47 percent of workers surveyed find digital administration boring, while 48 percent said it is a poor use of their skills; 51 percent said it gets in the way of doing their main job and 64 percent said it reduces their overall productivity.

According to the survey, the three most hated tasks are also the three administrative tasks workers spend most time daily on.

With an 8-hour workday being the global norm, the average employee loses 60 hours per month to easily automatable tasks. By deploying a digital workforce and automating these repetitive tasks, employees could be given back a quarter of their annual work time (4.5 months) to focus on more meaningful work, the survey noted.

Admin work is an obstacle

Forty nine percent of participants said that simple digital administrative tasks often prevent them from leaving the office on time, indicating it’s impacting their personal lives, with 54 percent of men struggling with the problem and 43 percent of women.

“Most of the participants believe that repetitive admin work is an obstacle for them to do their main job,” Milan Sheth, Executive Vice President India, Middle East & Africa, Automation Anywhere said.

“Workers can focus on higher value tasks if the mundane repetitive work can be automated,” Sheth said.

85 percent believe that automation could easily eliminate manual, repetitive digital office tasks that aren’t core to their job, and 88 percent anticipate they would be happier with the change.

“Middle East is one of our fastest growing geographies across the India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) region, the sentiment on adopting a digital bot-assisted workforce is quite positive. Enterprises are willing to embrace automation to drive employee productivity, retain valuable talent and boost revenues,” Sheth said.

Eighty seven percent of those surveyed would like their employers to automate more manual repetitive business processes. 55 percent said they would consider leaving a job if this manual administrative load became too high, while 85 percent would be attracted to work at a company that invested in automation to reduce repetitive digital administration tasks. 

(Writing by Gerard Aoun; editing by Seban Scaria)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

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