The pandemic and digital transformation are leading factors in workers saying that their jobs are getting harder.
By Zee Johnson
Pegasystems Inc.’s recent Demystifying Complexity in the Modern Workforce report found that nearly 71% of global employees feel their job complexity has risen, coinciding with the recent rise in customer demands. Employees at all levels report feeling overloaded with information, systems, and processes, all of which have made it more difficult to adapt and meet customers’ growing needs.
Survey respondents identified several factors that they believe are adding complexity to their jobs, which include:
- navigating information overload (90%);
- managing internal processes (89%);
- managing projects, teams, and people (88%);
- keeping up with rapid change (87%); and
- limited resources (86%).
Another recurrent driver behind workplace complexities was the pandemic, a factor that employees believe will remain relevant for the foreseeable future. In fact, 56% of respondents feel the pandemic will make business more complex in the future and 35% think hybrid work due to COVID-19 currently makes business more complex. When asked why, 38% said hybrid work blurs the boundaries between their work and personal lives. Further, almost 32% think the pandemic makes it more difficult to find the right people to hire and 61% say their company is having trouble attracting talent with the key tech skills they need.
While those problems are felt globally, in the APAC region specifically, 51% of workers report too many systems make their job more complicated and one out of three say that technology makes their job more complicated because it is difficult to use and learn. Additionally, 22% of APAC workers are more likely to say technology is not unified and occurs in silos. And with 98% agreeing that technology is vital to getting their jobs done correctly, there are some avenues organisations can employ to ease challenges.
For businesses to address these complexities, survey respondents first suggest breaking down technological silos (43%). And when asked how their organisation can make their technology experience easier, 40% cited deploying systems that more easily integrate with other technologies (40%).
If companies invest in reskilling and training to equip employees with the right tech skills and provide systems that can be quickly updated and integrated, they can better support workers through the transition.
