MindEdge Online Learning

Preparing for Robot Colleagues: A New Decade of Robomageddon

MindEdge/Skye Learning’s Third Annual Future of Work Survey

Robots and other forms of advanced automation are transforming the American workplace. But just how, exactly, do American workers feel about that?

The results of MindEdge/Skye Learning’s third annual Future of Work survey show that workers are deeply conflicted on this issue. On one hand, workers whose workplaces have recently been automated say that the new technology has made their jobs easier and has improved worker morale. On the other hand, many workers say that automation has already encroached on their jobs – and a clear majority says that robots and automation are “bad for American workers.”

MindEdge/Skye Learning’s national survey of 1,017 American workers, age 18 and older, was conducted online by Qualtrics during the week of December 2, 2019. The top findings: 76 percent of workers at recently automated businesses say the new tech has made their jobs easier, and 69 percent say it has improved morale. But 44 percent say that automation has already taken over part of their current job – and 57 percent of all workers say that robotics and advanced automation are bad for American workers.

The numbers show sharply conflicting worker attitudes: fully 76 percent of workers at firms that have recently automated say that technology has made their jobs easier, including 36 percent who say it has made their jobs much easier. Only 16 percent say that new technology has made their jobs harder. But at the same time, 57 percent of all workers agree that robots and advanced automation are bad for American workers, and only 35 percent disagree with this assertion.