How IoT and automation address labour shortage

It no longer comes as a surprise when another story about post-pandemic layoffs, especially in tech, reaches the news. Over the last few years, many companies have had to downsize following the brunt of COVID-19.

Large tech companies in Southeast Asia have let go of over 10% of their workforces in 2022, according to sources from Randstad Singapore. The APAC region is not only affected by local company layoffs, but Western downsizing as well, given that many of these companies have offices in Asia Pacific.¹

This raises the question: Why are companies finding themselves in dire need to slim down? The easiest answer might be to save on costs given the seemingly uncontrollable rise of inflation, but it goes deeper than that. Lightning-speed technological advancements may also have a hand in shrinking workforces.² Companies are playing a balancing act, letting go of team members whose roles may be replaced by automations, but making sure to keep key players with specific skill sets to properly optimise technology.³

But aside from staff adjustments, companies can also turn to automation technologies to ensure that the gaps left behind don’t result in a decrease in output.

Some companies spend as much as 50% of an individual employee’s compensation in layoff efforts, which hints that this is not a simple knee-jerk reaction to decreasing profits.⁴ The overnight demand for digitalisation during the COVID-19 pandemic saw an aggressive increase in hiring. Now that the pandemic is over and businesses are finding their feet again, there’s no longer a need for such large teams. Many of the roles that were previously occupied by pandemic hires are either no longer needed or can be fulfilled through other means, like automation. Aside from overhiring, many companies also overpromised on compensation and benefits, which has now become untenable for them given rising interest rates and inflation.¹

But it’s not just companies deciding to cut down on employees that’s trimming workforces. Workers are now prioritising other things aside from large salaries, like working locations or flexible hours. Companies will have to ensure that as they slim down, they keep their key employees in the company–a huge challenge given that over 57% of APAC employees claim to be dissatisfied with their jobs.⁶

Teams shrinking doesn’t mean there’s less work for a company. It’s the exact opposite. The employees that are left must deal with all the workload previously handled by a larger team, which could lead to even more problems such as burnout or, in the worst case, resignation.

Enter automation. If we look once again at the profiles of jobs that were affected by company layoffs, we’ll see that many of these roles dealt with tasks that can now be automated, such as HR, finance, or marketing. Even software engineering roles, once thought to be indispensable, have taken a hit with the advent of advanced AI technologies.⁴

The implementation of automated processes, however, raises a big question: Will technology replace people and their jobs? The answer might come as a surprise.

While it is true that automation does away with mundane and time-consuming tasks, it doesn’t have to be implemented with the mindset of replacing human talent. The idea is for workers to work alongside technology, thus allowing them to focus on more critical tasks.

There’s even the potential for AI to open possibilities for workers in industries that were previously inaccessible. In manufacturing, most jobs required physical skillsets from workers in order to qualify. With automation, the skill sets required for manufacturing roles can change, focusing more on technological capabilities.⁷

Automated machines in factories open the possibility for individuals who may not have been qualified to manage heavy-duty machinery to work in the sector. In the technology sector, software engineers can explore new roles like prompt engineering, a new workstream that arose out of the need to feed detailed instructions to an AI software or platform.⁸

IoT has been around long enough that it no longer needs an introduction, but as more and more companies look towards automating their processes, they need to be strategic about deciding where to start. Identify which areas of your company lack manpower and, from there, explore whether the workstreams left behind can be automated.

Some of Singtel’s IoT solutions are dedicated to tackling workstreams that may now find themselves without a proper owner within a company. Workforce Manager automates the process of managing teams; Smart Access, as the name suggests, provides needed access to employees without the manual upkeep of managing data like passwords; and Fleet Manager manages workers on the move and the maintenance of company vehicles. Take a quick look at the benefits of each tool:

Some processes will be necessary regardless of what situation a company finds itself in. Managing teams, no matter how small, is one of these. Workforce Manager lets you increase productivity by automating processes. This tool uses real-time data on employee activities that later create job report statuses, all of which are updated real time. Workforce Manager collects data on the activities of each employee on the field and automatically identifies the areas where productivity can be improved. 

For companies that are hybrid or fully remote, access to tools and other company platforms is of paramount importance. Smart Access allows for enhanced security through time-sensitive one-time-PINs (OTPs), while also providing a dashboard for managing team member access. This can save on costs by eliminating the need to keep physical access keys protected.

Lastly, for companies that run fleets, Singtel Fleet Manager automates the tracking and management of vehicles. When a company configures their fleet with IoT devices, these will gather data on the status of the vehicle, like its whereabouts or its maintenance needs, and feed it into the management system. This will provide companies with the ability to foresee any potential risks, like breakage or wear-and-tear, and act before it becomes a problem. Coupled with the Workforce Manager, it can save valuable time and money on logistics and deployment.

While the mass layoff trend may have some companies feeling ill at ease, this doesn’t equate to sacrificing quality and productivity within the organisation. Keep your operations running while securing long-term stability by finding innovative ways of automating tasks.

Automate your business processes with Singtel today.