Could AI limit burnout for frontline workers – even though one in three believe it will take their job? Speaking exclusively to UKG’s Chief Product Officer, Suresh Vittal, UNLEASH gets the inside track.
76% of frontline workers are burnt out, according to new data from UKG.
However, those that use AI are reportedly less burnout than those that don’t.
To understand what this means for the workforce, UNLEASH spoke exclusively with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at UKG.
Could AI be the solution to stop burnout among frontline workers?
According to a new UKG study, one in three frontline workers reported using AI in their roles today, with those who do reporting lower levels of burnout (41%) compared to those who do not use the technology (54%).
Additionally, 85% also say that replacing the frontline workforce with AI would be a “huge mistake.”
To provide greater context, frontline workers are those who must be present to fulfil their job roles, such as serving customers, patients, or residents. Frontline workers make up 80% of the workforce worldwide, with 76% of those reporting feeling burnout today.
To discover more about how this workforce is being impacted by AI, UNLEASH spoke exclusively to Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at UKG.
Although AI has been shown to lessen burnout among frontline workers, UKG’s research study indicates that fear of AI is increasing globally among these employees.
In fact, 1 in 3 fear AI might replace their job; 1 in 4 believe part of their job has already been replaced by AI; and 1 in 5 expect their job to be completely replaced by AI within five years.
“AI can be a powerful tool for preventing burnout at work, yet our study reveals the trepidation around AI could cause an already-stretched workforce to log even more hours to impress their bosses,” Dan Schawbel, Managing Partner at Workplace Intelligence said in a statement.
“This isn’t sustainable, and it’s up to leaders across the frontline to have more open conversations with their teams.”
Frontline workers in India were found to use AI the most (84%) followed by Mexico (52%), and Australia (39%), with the US (27%) and Canada (27%) lagging behind.
However, the most telling finding is that 65% of colleagues polled reported that the biggest threat to frontline worker roles are other employees that are skilled in AI.
Yet this data was said to be a “wake-up call” for frontline workers, as nearly half said that fearing AI has encouraged them to “prove their worth” by learning new skills or taking on extra projects.
Speaking to UNLEASH, Vittal says: “AI is a gamechanger for the frontline workforce, but its rollout requires transparency, empathy, and clarity.
“This research is a wake-up call: frontline employees aren’t afraid of AI – they’re afraid of the uncertainty around AI.
When employers clearly communicate how AI will help their people, it builds excitement and creates a competitive edge.”
What’s more, frontline workers did show optimism about using AI for HR processes, specifically for processes (78%), workplace tasks (76%), and writing performance evaluations (71%) with access to work data.
So if you have frontline employees in your business, how ingrained is AI into their roles? And is it met with positivity or fear?
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Senior Journalist, UNLEASH
Lucy Buchholz is an experienced business reporter, she can be reached at lucy.buchholz@unleash.ai.
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