Nearly half office workers from around the world worry they will be out of a job within five years because their skills will be outdated.
In a survey conducted by enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company UiPath, 86% of respondents say they wish their employer offered opportunities to acquire new skills (reskilling) and 83% say they wish their employer gave them more opportunities to enhance their current skills (upskilling).
The survey of 4,500 office workers across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, India, and Singapore uncovered that nearly all (91%) of office workers believe their employers should be more willing to invest in digital and technology skills training for their employees.
Other key takeaways from the survey include:
Fear of becoming obsolete
A full third of office workers globally fear their current roles will advance past their current skills, and 25% worry about losing their job due to automation. Most office workers (83%) globally would feel more secure in their job if their employer offered opportunities to learn new skills.
Young people most intimidated by automation
According to the survey, 58% of global respondents feel intimidated when they need to learn how to use a new technology. Surprisingly, the younger an office worker is, the more intimidated they are to learn to use new technologies. Forty-three percent of 18-23-year-olds worldwide say they are intimidated to learn a new technology, while only 10% of those over the age of 56 are intimidated.
Productive employees through skill training
Eighty percent of workers globally believe they would be more productive if they learned new skills. In addition to driving greater business outputs, employees who receive skills training are generally more inclined to stay at their jobs; 88% of workers say they would be more willing to continue working at a company that offered upskilling and reskilling opportunities.
Among workers globally who were provided training at work, they cited increased responsibilities, more opportunities, and increased pay as the top benefits of upskilling and reskilling opportunities.
Employees yearn to learn automation
Data analytics is the most coveted skill globally, and in the U.S., demand for automation, machine learning (ML), and AI skills are on the rise. Twenty-two percent of office workers worldwide say they are interested in acquiring RPA skills, acknowledging that automation could boost productivity, save time, and enable a better work/life balance.
Eighty-three percent of workers worldwide also say they are interested in learning about ML and AI. Seventy-eight percent globally note that ML/AI skills could benefit their career.